“We killed them”: Former FSB-spy says Putin approved all poison attacks

Now, a former insider has spoken out, describing how Vladimir Putin’s intelligence network eliminates opponents and manipulates events far beyond the public eye.

Inside the Second Service

A former FSB officer, Alexander Fedotov, has revealed that the Second Service of the Federal Security Service, officially known as the Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and the Fight against Terrorism, has been behind some of Russia’s darkest operations.

Fedotov, who joined the FSB in 2003 and later transferred to the Second Service, described it as Russia’s modern-day equivalent of the Gestapo.

“We did mostly routine work: monitoring rallies and checking addresses where armed groups might be hiding,” he told The Insider. “But over time, our role changed.”

According to Fedotov, the Second Service became responsible for silencing opposition figures and conducting secret missions abroad.

He says it was also instrumental in organizing the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Poisoning as a weapon

Fedotov claims that the Second Service orchestrated poison attacks on key opposition figures including Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Dmitry Bykov.

“Decisions about poisonings are 100 percent coordinated with Putin,” he said. “Nothing of this kind is done without his approval.”

He added that poisoning was preferred because it left room for doubt.

“When someone is shot, it’s obvious they were killed. But if a person is poisoned and the toxin is not detected, some think it was murder, others that it was natural. It gives the FSB room to manoeuvre.”

Fedotov insists that the poisoning teams operated not for money but for career advancement.

“There may have been rewards, but it’s mostly a career issue,” he said.

The Nemtsov exception

While Fedotov confirmed the FSB’s involvement in poisoning operations, he denied that the Second Service was behind the 2015 assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot near the Kremlin.

“The FSB prefers other methods. When a person has a hole in the head, it’s clear they were shot. That’s not their style,” he explained.

He recalled that his superior, General Alexei Sedov, appeared genuinely surprised when Nemtsov was killed.

“If he had known about it, he would not have reacted that way,” Fedotov said.

The Crimea operation

Fedotov also described how the annexation of Crimea was secretly managed by FSB General Alexander Tatko from the Second Service.

Initially tasked with helping Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych remain in power, Tatko switched focus to Crimea once Yanukovych’s regime began to collapse.

“To hide his absence from Moscow, his car would still arrive each morning and his secretary would stay in the office to pretend he was there,” Fedotov recalled. “In reality, he was in Ukraine running operations.”

Fedotov said that the referendum in Crimea was heavily manipulated. “People were told that Crimea would become part of Russia no matter what. Those who didn’t vote were put on a special list,” he revealed. “My colleagues said, ‘We gathered people and led them to vote.’”

He added that any official record proving the FSB’s role in the operation would be disastrous for Putin. “If such a document were found, it would be a total failure for him,” Fedotov said.

Manufactured conflict

Fedotov also claimed that the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” were created by the same groups that helped crush Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protests.

These breakaway regions, he said, were designed to distract the Ukrainian army and protect newly annexed Crimea.

“The Donbas republics were established to create a new hot spot of tension,” he explained. “They were built by the same people who once suppressed protests in Kiev.”

Fedotov fled Russia in 2021 and has since continued to expose what he describes as the inner workings of Putin’s secret state.

This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, which may have used AI in the preparation