Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to extensive investigations by Bellingcat and various Western media into the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. During his annual news conference, Putin made the claim, without any evidence to back it up, that the media outlets were merely “laundering” U.S. intelligence materials. He also said that if Russian security services had wanted to poison Navalny, “they would have finished the job.”

This post was originally published on Radio Free.