Press Release, 11.03.2021

Photo: Deputies of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko Lev Shlosberg and Artur Gaiduk / Photo by Artyom Avanesov

The Main Military Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia believes that the appeal of the deputies of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko Artur Gaiduk and Lev Shlosberg with the demand to initiate a criminal case into the attempt on the life of Alexei Navalny, which was addressed to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin, does not contain the data necessary for the pre-investigation procedural verification by the military investigating authorities.

The response to the deputies, signed by the senior investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia, runs that the application of Artur Gaiduk and Lev Shlosberg was considered and sent to the Investigation Department of Transport of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Siberian Federal District (Novosibirsk), at the place of procedural check on the fact of hospitalisation of Alexei Navalny in the Omsk City Clinical Hospital on 20 August, 2020.

Lev Shlosberg commented on the response as follows: “I understand why our statement was considered by the Main Military Investigation Department: because this very department investigates the crimes of officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The fact that the statement was forwarded to the police means that the Investigative Committee does not consider FSB officers being involved in the poisoning of Navalny and will not consider the issue of their role and responsibility.”

“The situation with Alexei Navalny, from the assassination attempt on him to his imprisonment, is absolutely political. It reminds me of Goethe’s ballad about Reynard the Fox, when Lion the Ruler punishes the one who suffered from the cunning fox. They tried to kill Navalny, and then they punished him for not dying,” Artur Gaiduk said.

It should be noted that on 16 December, 2020, deputies of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko Artur Gaiduk and Lev Shlosberg sent a statement to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, demanding to initiate a criminal case on the fact of attempt on the life of politician Alexei Navalny.

The parliamentarians referred to a joint investigation (https://theins.ru/politika/237705) by the independent international group Bellingcat and The Insider, with the participation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a non-profit organization. According to their investigation at least eight employees of the secret unit of the Federal Security Service of Russia, operating under the cover of the Institute of Forensic Science of the FSB of Russia, were involved in the attempt to poison Navalny.