Bellingcat: alleged poisoners of Navalny organized assassination attempt on Bykov

According to investigators, the same FSB officers from NII-2 and the Second Service, who were allegedly part of the group on the poisoning of politician Alexey Navalny and in the attempt on the life of journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, may be involved in the assassination attempt on Bykov.

Dmitry Bykov was hospitalized in April 2019 with symptoms similar to those of organophosphate poisoning diagnosed in opposition politician Alexey Navalny. The investigation says that FSB officers began monitoring Bykov at least a year before the poisoning.

“One of the first episodes of surveillance occurred in May 2018, when the writer flew from Moscow to Ufa, where he gave a lecture. The authors of the investigation found out that officers of the Second Service of the FSB Vladimir Panyaev, who was with a passport in his name, and Valery Sukharev with a passport in the name of Nikolai Gorokhov, flew with Bykov", - the Dozhd TV channel reports.

According to investigators, the attempt on Bykov's life took place on April 13, 2019 in Novosibirsk, where the writer read the text as part of a total dictation.

By the time Bykov arrived in Novosibirsk, officer Panyayev and an employee of the Institute of Forensic Science of the FSB (NII-2 FSB) Ivan Osipov were already at the scene.

Bykov and his wife checked into the Domina hotel and went to the Pobeda cinema, where they performed Total Dictation. All this time the hotel room was empty. Investigators believe that the poisoners took advantage of this, who entered the premises rented by Bykov and secretly applied a poisonous substance to his clothes - presumably a T-shirt.

When the writer put it on on April 16, he felt sick on the plane before taking off to Ufa, where he was supposed to give an open lecture. Bykov started vomiting, profuse sweating appeared, then he lost the ability to move, but did not lose consciousness.

After hospitalization, Bykov, who was in an extremely serious condition, was placed in intensive care and put into an artificial coma, and then transferred to a Moscow hospital. Analyzes showed violations similar to those recorded at Navalny in August 2020. Investigators believe that Bykov's life was saved only thanks to the persistence of Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, who sent a private plane for the journalist for emergency transportation to Moscow.

Bykov regained consciousness on April 21 and remained disoriented for some time, as was the case with Navalny. Subsequently, he said that he was poisoned, but the reasons and circumstances of the incident were not known to him.

Commenting on the investigation of his poisoning, Dmitry Bykov said that he considers the incident "an analogue of the state award".

“These evidences convince me”, - Dmitry Bykov told Kommersant about the investigation by The Insider and Bellingcat. “This is an analogue of a state award. And I, frankly, am pleased that my modest activity is estimated at such large-scale costs. There are just how many tickets there. I'd rather take money".

As part of the preparation of the material, the investigators asked for comments to the alleged participants in the assassination attempt on Dmitry Bykov, but there was no response from them.

Writer and regular contributor to Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Bykov, in addition to literary and teaching activities, is also known as a supporter of the Russian opposition, a participant in political debates. Over the past 15 years, he has received over 15 prestigious literary awards. He is a biographer of Boris Pasternak, Bulat Okudzhava, Maxim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Together with Mikhail Yefremov, he recorded literary videos within the framework of the projects "Citizen Poet" and "Mr. Good".