Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he believes Putin was behind his poisoning

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he is certain Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for his poisoning in August, as he doesn't see "any other explanation."

In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel published Thursday, Navalny said he came to this conclusion after German military lab tests showed he was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok; labs in France and Sweden later confirmed these findings. He fell ill on Aug. 20 during a flight from Siberia to Moscow, and after being hospitalized in Russia, was transferred to a hospital in Berlin, where he spent some time in a medically induced coma.

Navalny said only the heads of Russia's intelligence services could order the use of Novichok, and those leaders "cannot make a decision like that without being instructed by Putin. They report to him. I assert that Putin was behind the crime ... I'm not saying this out of self-flattery, but based on the facts. The most important fact is Novichok."

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Navalny suggested that he was poisoned because Putin is worried about demonstrations in the Khabarovsk region of Russia and the anti-government protests in Belarus, following a contested election. "The system is fighting for its survival and we've just felt the consequences," he said. The Kremlin denies Putin had anything to do with the poisoning, and his spokesman accused Navalny of working for the CIA.

Late last month, Navalny was released from the hospital, and he remains in Germany. His spokesman said Navalny's apartment in Moscow has been seized and his bank accounts frozen, but Navalny told Der Spiegel he will return to Russia. Otherwise, it would mean "that Putin has won and achieved his goal. ... I'm not afraid. I would not give Putin the gift of not returning to Russia."