'Putin is behind the crime': Alexei Navalny claims in interview
Follow UsStory highlights
Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight and was later treated in a Germany hospital, where the doctors claimed that he was poisoned.
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who was allegedly poisoned by the Russian authorities has finally broken his silence months after an attack was planned against him.
Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight and was later treated in a Germany hospital, where the doctors claimed that he was poisoned. His team also released a video of them collecting water bottles that had traces of the nerve agent Novichok were found on the rim of the bottles that were present in his hotel room.
While Navalny's team has been fighting on his behalf and he has been posting pictures and videos to update his supporters t his improving health, he had not yet openly stated about whom he holds responsible for the attack.
However, in an interview with a German magazine, that is yet to be released, Navalny has broken his silence on the subject and blamed the Russian leader Vladimir Putin for poisoning him.
"I claim that Putin is behind this crime and I don't have any other versions of what happened," he told the German magazine Der Spiegel.
He also assured that he will be returning back to Russia as he does not want to given Putin the satisfaction of him leaving the country. "I will not give Putin the gift of not returning to Russia," he said, adding that his "task is to get fit as soon as possible so that I can go back".
Russian government has repeatedly declined all these accusations. On Thursday, the head of parliament's lower house claimed that contrary to the accusations, Putin 'saved' Navalny's life.
Minutes later, the head of Russia's Duma claimed that Navalny is working for Western 'security services'.
The interview will be released later on Thursday.