In his marathon year-end news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin projected confidence and defiance on a range of issues — and vehemently denied government involvement in the recent poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
On Thursday, Putin appeared during the latest iteration of a Q-and-A that regularly tops four hours, which he has led for nearly two decades running.
The Kremlin is widely suspected of having orchestrated the poisoning of Navalny, who has long been a thorn in the side of a government that does not often tolerate dissent.
Navalny fell critically ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August. He was flown to Germany for medical treatment and spent more than two weeks in a medically induced coma. Since his recovery, he has maintained that this was an assassination attempt perpetrated by a Russian intelligence group, with personal approval from Putin.
Read more at NPR.
{Matzav.com}
