Russia says opposition figure Navalny works with CIA, rejects his claims against Putin

Russia has censured “groundless and unacceptable statements” made by opposition figure Alexei Navalny and accused him of working for US spy agency CIA after he blamed President Vladimir Putin for arranging his poisoning.

"It's not the patient who is working with Western security services, it's Western security services who are working with him," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday.

Navalny accused the Russian president of ordering his poisoning in his first published interview since being released from a German hospital where he was treated after being transferred there from Russia after going into a coma during a domestic flight.

"We believe that such charges against the Russian president are absolutely groundless and unacceptable," Peskov said, insisting that the CIA was "currently working" with the 44-year-old dissident, who studied at the US-based Yale University.

"I can even say directly that CIA instructors are currently working with him," Putin’s spokesman added without elaborating.

During an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel, Navalny said, "I assert that Putin is behind this act, I don't see any other explanation."

He also boasted that he would not give Putin "the gift" of his absence from Russia, vowing to return to the country as soon as he has fully recovered.

Navalny was evacuated to Berlin for treatment after he collapsed in August on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow following a campaign trip to support opposition candidates in local elections.

He was discharged more than a week ago after Germany alleged that he had been poisoned with the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok. The Kremlin, however, firmly denied any involvement.

Russia has blasted German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent visit to Navalny at the Berlin hospital, saying the move was meant to politicize the case.

Merkel’s visit to Navalny meant to politicize situation: Russia

Russia criticizes German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent move to visit Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny at the hospital where he was being treated.

“We see it as an attempt to politicize this matter,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to the visit.

“Frankly speaking, it is difficult to say anything else about it. Because everything that is going on has nothing to do with real intention to find the truth, to find out what happened, to sort things out, to help find some elements to assemble the picture,” she added.

On Thursday, speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, also accused the "shameless" opposition figure of collaborating with Western security agencies, saying Navalny owed his life to Putin.

"Navalny is a shameless and mean man," Volodin declared in a statement. "Everyone -- from pilots to doctors to the president -- were sincerely saving him."

"It is absolutely obvious that Navalny is working with the security services and authorities of Western countries," the senior Russian lawmaker also emphasized.

Navalny's supporters arranged for his medical evacuation to Germany after Russian doctors treating him said they found no evidence of poisoning, further suggesting that he had a problem with his metabolism.

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