Putin poisoned me, but I'm not afraid, he told the German magazine Navalnyj

Russia's opposition leader Alexei Navalny told a German magazine that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the crime. He also stressed that he was not afraid and wanted to return to Russia because he did not want to be an exile leader. According to Germany, the critic of the Kremlin was poisoned by the nervous paralytic substance of the novices, which was developed by the former Soviet Union.

"I claim that Putin was behind the crime, and I have no further versions of what happened," Navalny told Der Spiegel in an interview. "I'm not saying to flatter myself, but I'm based on facts. The main fact is a novelty, "he said.

If Putin were not behind the act, it would be even worse, according to Navalny. "If three people did not have access to this warp, but 30, then it would be a global threat. That would be terrible, "he said.

He added that he would return to Russia. "My task now is to remain fearless. And I'm not afraid! ”He stressed. "I will not give Putin the joy of not returning to Russia," he added.

During a domestic flight from Tomsk to Moscow, Navalny collapsed. Because of him, the plane had to land in Omsk, where the opposition was hospitalized.

"You don't feel any pain, but you know you're dying," he said

From the moments before the collapse, he remembers sitting comfortably on a plane and looking forward to going home. "I feel good, just like at the airport. And then ... It's hard to describe, because it can't be compared to anything, "he said, adding that the substance would overload the nervous system as a hacker attack on a computer.

"You can't concentrate. I feel that something is wrong, I have a cold sweat. I ask Kira (Jarmyšová, Navalný spokesperson - editor's note) next to me for a handkerchief. Then I say to her: Talk to me! I have to hear a voice. He looks at me like a fool and starts talking to me, "he recalls.

He later went to the bathroom, where he repeatedly washed himself with water. "Then I think if I don't come out now, I'll never get out again. The key impression was that you didn't feel any pain, but you know that you were dying, "he said.

To his surprise, he told the steward after leaving the toilet that he had been poisoned. "Then I lie down in front of him to die. He is the last person I see, "he said. "And the last thing I hear when I'm lying on the ground is: Do you have heart problems?" He said. He still remembers some voices and calls from a woman to stay conscious.

My mental abilities are back, Navalny thinks

From Omsk, where he was hospitalized, he was transferred to the Berlin hospital Charité in August. He was treated there for 32 days before being released last month. It is expected that the leaders of the Russian opposition will take at least another month to regain fitness so that he can return to his homeland and resume political activity.

Regarding the state of health, Navalny said that he was weak, but he was getting stronger every day. "Until recently, I managed only ten steps, now I'm going to the fifth floor," he said. "The most important thing for me is that my mental skills are back," he added.

Navalny continues to suffer from sleep problems. "It simply came to our notice then. I used to laugh at people with sleep problems, "he said, adding that he is unable to fall asleep without sleeping pills.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Navalný at the hospital. The meeting, which took place a week ago, was described by the opposition as unexpected, private and a gesture. "The door opened, my doctor and Merkel entered," he said.

"I can't talk about the details, but we didn't talk about anything secret or bombastic," he said. "I thanked her for her participation and she said to me: I did what was my duty," he added.

Navalnyj remains in Berlin, where he rented an apartment. He considers his days monotonous. "I exercise every day, otherwise I don't do anything," he described the daily routine. According to doctors, it can recover to 90 and maybe up to one hundred percent. "But no one knows, I'm basically like a guinea pig," he said.

The European Union wants an explanation, the Kremlin denies everything

According to German experts, Navalnyj collapsed in Russia after contact with a nerve agent from a group of newcomers. Berlin, together with the European Union, is therefore asking Russia to explain the incident. The Kremlin denied any involvement in the incident, saying it had not yet seen evidence of a crime.

In response to the interview, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, called Navalny a "shameless villain" because "Putin saved his life," as did Russian pilots and doctors.

Volodin's statement, according to a statement on the Duma's website, logically fits into consideration that the incident was staged by the West to provoke tensions in Russia, thereby preventing Russia from helping to defend the sovereignty of allied Belarus.

According to TASS, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Western secret services were working with Navalny, specifically "these days the specialists of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)", and that "this is not the first time they have given him various instructions."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that she wanted to decide on the answer to the case only after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons closes the investigation. Then, according to the Chancellor, Europe will discuss the appropriate response.