Vladimir Putin has promoted to the rank of Major General FSB officer Alexander Samofal, who investigators link to the poisoning of opponents Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza. According to the publication Vajnye Istorii, his name, new rank, and position – Deputy Head of the FSB Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow Region – appear in the criminal case against journalist Valeria Ratnikova from Dozhd, writes The Moscow Times.
Before his appointment to the Moscow police department, Samofal worked as an agent in the FSB’s Service Two. Officers from this unit have participated in special operations against Russian opposition politicians. The investigation noted that Samofal was part of a group linked to the first attempt to poison Alexei Navalny in 2017, during the Kirovles trial.
Samofal, along with other FSB officers, monitored Vladimir Kara-Murza in 2015, during the period when he survived his first poisoning. The investigation emphasized that he was the “only known agent of the poisoning group who had two cover passports”. Since 2023, Samofal has been on the EU sanctions list.