A former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has alleged that Vladimir Putin personally approves all assassinations of opposition figures, including those who were poisoned.
According to Lt. Col. Alexander Fedotov, a 44-year-old former FSB insider now living in exile, the Russian president directly authorizes decisions that have serious international implications such as the targeting of dissidents and critics.
In an interview with The Insider, Fedotov said:
“The decision is always approved by Putin himself. Such actions cannot happen without his personal consent. There are no written orders everything is communicated orally.”
Fedotov’s claims add to growing evidence that Alexei Navalny, the prominent Kremlin critic who died in an Arctic prison last year at the age of 47, was one of several opposition figures deliberately poisoned under orders from the top.
Navalny’s poisoning in 2020 drew global outrage and was later confirmed by multiple investigations to involve the nerve agent Novichok. Other figures, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, have also survived suspected poisoning attempts before being jailed or forced into exile.
Fedotov alleged that the Second Department of the Second Service of the FSB, working alongside Institute No. 2, handles the poison operations. He named several alleged operatives involved in Navalny’s case, including:
- Ivan Osipov, a doctor operating under the alias Ivan Spiridonov
- Oleg Tayakin, a forensic expert
- Alexei Krivoshchyokov, a surveillance operative
- Konstantin Kudryavtsev, a chemist accused of cleaning traces of poison
- Vladimir Panyayev, who allegedly tracked Navalny during his travels
These operatives, Fedotov said, were based at the FSB’s Priboy Tower in Moscow a 24-story complex he compared to the Gestapo headquarters of Nazi Germany.
He also revealed that the head of the FSB’s Second Service, General Alexey Sedov, has a direct phone line to Putin and can contact him “at any moment.”
Fedotov, whose father also served in Russian security, said he was speaking out not against his country but against the “system that destroyed it.”
“I swore an oath to the Russian Federation not to Mr. Putin,” he said.
He added that growing paranoia within the Kremlin has led to a crackdown on communication apps, as the regime fears a possible coup inspired by outside forces.
Fedotov believes that the introduction of new, state-backed messengers such as ‘Max’ is part of a strategy to control online communication and prevent any coordinated uprising. Most Russians, however, reportedly distrust these platforms, viewing them as tools for surveillance.
Fedotov’s testimony paints a chilling picture of a government where loyalty is enforced through fear and where even those once closest to power are turning against the regime.
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