![Navalny’s team believes he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, a claim several European countries support [Instagram account @navalny via AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/000_8QB3ZQ.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny told a German magazine he believed President Vladimir Putin was behind his suspected poisoning, but said he was not afraid and would return to Russia to resume campaigning.
Navalny was flown from Russia to Berlin in August after falling ill on a domestic flight. He received treatment in the Charite hospital for what Germany said was poisoning by a potentially deadly nerve agent, Novichok, before being discharged in September.
Mr. Navalny said he believed that Putin is behind the crime that he don’t have any other versions of what happened, as according to an extract of an interview published on Thursday.
The West has demanded an explanation from the Kremlin, which has denied any involvement in the incident and said it has yet to see evidence of a crime.
Navalny was accompanied on his visit to the magazine’s office by security guards, who insisted they should choose which bottle of water from the fridge he should drink. His allies have said traces of Novichok had been found on a bottle of water he drank in his hotel room before taking the flight.
The Kremlin later accused Navalny of colluding with specialists at the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), saying it believed he received instructions from people he described as instructors.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the allegation by Navalny was unacceptable, groundless and insulting but he was free to return to Russia.
He and his wife are currently living in a rented flat in Berlin, but he said he would only resume posting to his popular online video channel once he was back in Russia.
The politician, who was visited at his hospital bedside by Chancellor Angela Merkel, said he felt a personal bond to Germany and had been impressed by Merkel’s deep knowledge of Russia
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