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How did this toxins guy keep getting ahold of Navalny's underpants? First he had to have access to them to put poison. Then he later got access to them again

How did this toxins guy keep getting ahold of Navalny's underpants? First he had to have access to them to put poison. Then he later got access to them again to scrub them clean of the poison. I guess Navalny has no security whatsoever where he stays?

roveo 6y ago
The second part of your question is answered in the video: police/FSB came to the hospital and snatched his clothes to do the cleanup. The first part we'll never know, but he really has no security and it is known that he's always the only tenant of his hotel room. Might have come into his room in the morning and sprayed them with Novichok while he was showering.
- netsharc 6y ago
  While he was in the bathroom? That's too risky. You don't stay 24/7 in your hotel room, do you? And when travelling for a few days, you must have spare underpants in your suitcase in your room, right? Product idea: secure suitcase with a camera that shows people who've tried to open/tamper with it while you were not there. It'd be interesting if the hotel staff can be questioned about government agents demanding access, but maybe the staff/eyewitness has since been "neutralized". Or if the agents were sophisticated, they'd have used widely available exploits to clone hotel keycards. Or just pick the lock. The guy on the phone even said they only go in when they know it's secure, i.e. after the cameras have been switched off.
  - netsharc 6y ago
    > you must have spare underpants in your suitcase in your room, right? I forgot to mention, that it must've been one of their jobs to figure out which pair of underpants he will be wearing the next day, i.e. which pair from presumably a few he had in the suitcase is the last clean pair. Ah, the glamorous job of a KGB/FSB agent. Interestingly, I wonder if it meant he could only be targetted the day before he got on a long plane trip... otherwise he might put on the pair too early, get sick while still on the ground, and manage to get to a hospital.
  - ArnoVW 6y ago
    There's Haven, a mobile app that does exactly that: help you detect Evil Maid attacks. https://github.com/guardianproject/haven https://github.com/guardianproject/haven https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_maid_attack https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_maid_attack
dilyevsky 6y ago
They got in his hotel room while he was out
- throwaway829 6y ago
  And then sent to the hospital in Germany to again get his underwear and remove traces of Novichok before it could be independently tested... does that sounds believable to you? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny
  - dilyevsky 6y ago
    What are you on about? He never got his clothes back
danaliv 6y ago
> How did this toxins guy keep getting ahold of Navalny’s underpants? Thanks for the spit-take. Note to self: put underpants in same security category as my phone.
- throwaway829 6y ago
  If your underwear is stolen twice by the same guy you may want to improve your security. This story sounds very hollywood to me.
nindalf 6y ago
This is not unexpected. In Obama’s memoir he mentioned that Chinese security services would send people to comb the rooms of every member of the American delegation right after they left their room in the morning. If state security services can do that to the US President and his advisors, I see no reason the Russians security can’t do that to someone like Navalny.
sto_hristo 6y ago
They had people on him all the time. When you have full time coverage of the person and the authorities are on your side, it's only a matter of time when an opportunity opens when he is separated from his luggage and do the deed.

roveo 6y ago

The second part of your question is answered in the video: police/FSB came to the hospital and snatched his clothes to do the cleanup. The first part we'll never know, but he really has no security and it is known that he's always the only tenant of his hotel room. Might have come into his room in the morning and sprayed them with Novichok while he was showering.

netsharc 6y ago
While he was in the bathroom? That's too risky. You don't stay 24/7 in your hotel room, do you? And when travelling for a few days, you must have spare underpants in your suitcase in your room, right? Product idea: secure suitcase with a camera that shows people who've tried to open/tamper with it while you were not there. It'd be interesting if the hotel staff can be questioned about government agents demanding access, but maybe the staff/eyewitness has since been "neutralized". Or if the agents were sophisticated, they'd have used widely available exploits to clone hotel keycards. Or just pick the lock. The guy on the phone even said they only go in when they know it's secure, i.e. after the cameras have been switched off.
- netsharc 6y ago
  > you must have spare underpants in your suitcase in your room, right? I forgot to mention, that it must've been one of their jobs to figure out which pair of underpants he will be wearing the next day, i.e. which pair from presumably a few he had in the suitcase is the last clean pair. Ah, the glamorous job of a KGB/FSB agent. Interestingly, I wonder if it meant he could only be targetted the day before he got on a long plane trip... otherwise he might put on the pair too early, get sick while still on the ground, and manage to get to a hospital.
- ArnoVW 6y ago
  There's Haven, a mobile app that does exactly that: help you detect Evil Maid attacks. https://github.com/guardianproject/haven https://github.com/guardianproject/haven https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_maid_attack https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_maid_attack

dilyevsky 6y ago

They got in his hotel room while he was out

throwaway829 6y ago
And then sent to the hospital in Germany to again get his underwear and remove traces of Novichok before it could be independently tested... does that sounds believable to you? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny
- dilyevsky 6y ago
  What are you on about? He never got his clothes back

danaliv 6y ago

> How did this toxins guy keep getting ahold of Navalny’s underpants? Thanks for the spit-take. Note to self: put underpants in same security category as my phone.

throwaway829 6y ago
If your underwear is stolen twice by the same guy you may want to improve your security. This story sounds very hollywood to me.

nindalf 6y ago

This is not unexpected. In Obama’s memoir he mentioned that Chinese security services would send people to comb the rooms of every member of the American delegation right after they left their room in the morning. If state security services can do that to the US President and his advisors, I see no reason the Russians security can’t do that to someone like Navalny.

sto_hristo 6y ago

They had people on him all the time. When you have full time coverage of the person and the authorities are on your side, it's only a matter of time when an opportunity opens when he is separated from his luggage and do the deed.