Russian Policeman Detained Over Data Leak About Alleged Navalny Poisoners

Police officers detain a man at Moscow's Vnukovo airport where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is expected to arrive on January 17, 2021. (AFP)
Police officers detain a man at Moscow's Vnukovo airport where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is expected to arrive on January 17, 2021. (AFP)
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Russian Policeman Detained Over Data Leak About Alleged Navalny Poisoners

Police officers detain a man at Moscow's Vnukovo airport where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is expected to arrive on January 17, 2021. (AFP)
Police officers detain a man at Moscow's Vnukovo airport where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is expected to arrive on January 17, 2021. (AFP)

Russia has opened a criminal case against a police officer accused of leaking data that could have helped identify the alleged poisoners of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the RBC business daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The officer could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of abuse of power. He was detained last month and is currently under house arrest, a court in the city of Samara told RBC.

Authorities accuse the officer of leaking confidential information from a database containing information about people’s travel across the country to a third party, RBC reported, citing a source close to the investigation.

The information leaked, according to RBC, is thought to relate to flights taken by agents from the FSB security service with specialized knowledge on chemical weapons identified in an investigation as having secretly followed Navalny for several years.

Investigative website Bellingcat and Russian media outlet The Insider published the investigation last month in cooperation with Der Spiegel and CNN, Reuters reported.

“Investigators are not looking for or imprisoning Navalny’s poisoners, but those who disclosed their data,” Georgy Alburov, an ally of Navalny, wrote on Twitter.

Navalny was airlifted for medical treatment to Germany after his poisoning in Siberia in August, only to be detained at the airport upon his return to Russia on Sunday and taken into pre-trial detention for 30 days.



US and Israel Condemnation of Sanctions on Ministers Is 'Predictable', Australia Says 

11 June 2025, Australia, Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses attendees during the official unveiling of the terminal building at Western Sydney International Airport in Sydney. (dpa)
11 June 2025, Australia, Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses attendees during the official unveiling of the terminal building at Western Sydney International Airport in Sydney. (dpa)
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US and Israel Condemnation of Sanctions on Ministers Is 'Predictable', Australia Says 

11 June 2025, Australia, Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses attendees during the official unveiling of the terminal building at Western Sydney International Airport in Sydney. (dpa)
11 June 2025, Australia, Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses attendees during the official unveiling of the terminal building at Western Sydney International Airport in Sydney. (dpa)

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said condemnation by the US and Israel of sanctions imposed on two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers was "predictable", and that the two men had impeded a two-state solution.

Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in a coordinated action imposed sanctions on Tuesday on cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the US condemned the move, and Israel said the action by the five countries was "outrageous" and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond.

Albanese said the responses from Israel and the US are "predictable".

"The Israeli Government does need to uphold its obligations under international law and some of the expansionist rhetoric that we've seen as well is clearly in contradiction of that from these hard-line right-wing members of the Netanyahu government," Albanese said on Wednesday in an interview with ABC Radio Sydney.

Comments by the two men "have aided what is a serious impediment to a two-state solution", he added.

The sanctions freeze the assets and impose travel bans on Israel's National Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich, both West Bank settlers, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

"We, along with those other countries and the broader international community, believe we can only see peace in the Middle East when we deal with two states and when both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security," she said in a television interview with Seven.

Israel's Ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, wrote on X on Wednesday that the sanctions are "deeply concerning and entirely unacceptable".