MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is of the opinion that Russian opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny has delusions of grandeur and delusions of persecution, he told reporters on Tuesday, stressing that this is his personal opinion.
"I think I’ll let myself to speak out of turn and express my personal opinion, which I usually don’t do, because it is not within my rights. You can say that this patient has a severe case of delusions of persecution, and we can also detect clear symptoms of delusions of grandeur. Some say he even compares himself to Jesus. As for the rest they are Freudian-like symptoms, this relentless fixation over his own codpiece and so on," Peskov said.
The spokesman noted that this is his opinion of the investigation in which Navalny claims that he was poisoned by Russian intelligence agencies. Peskov added that the Kremlin administration had not seen the video, as they have "enough work to do."
The Kremlin official pointed out that people should base their opinions on the official statement issued by the Federal Security Service (FSB). "You know that the Federal Security Service commented on this in a rather succinct and explicit manner. So there is no point in adding anything to it," he concluded.
FSB’s reaction
Russian blogger Alexey Navalny’s so-called investigation into his alleged poisoning with a nerve agent is a provocation prepared with the support of foreign intelligence services, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) press service said on Monday. The intelligence agency also stated that the video footage containing a phone call between Navalny and an alleged FSB employee is a fake.
Earlier, Navalny published a recording of his conversation with a person that he named among those behind his alleged poisoning in a joint investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider and Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation with the participation of CNN and Der Spiegel.
Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned during his annual news conference that Navalny "enjoys the support of US intelligence agencies."
"If that is the case, then [our] intelligence agencies must, of course, watch over him. But that does not mean he should be poisoned, who even cares about him?" Putin said.
Earlier, Russian authorities informed that doctors in Omsk diagnosed Navalny with "disruption of carbohydrate metabolism." Russia has not launched a criminal investigation into the incident, as the diagnosis "poisoning" has not been confirmed by local medics and toxicologists.
