Novichok nerve agent allegedly placed in underwear of poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has released a recording of a phone call he says he made to a Russian state security operative, claiming he tricked the agent into disclosing details of a botched plot to kill him by placing poison in his underpants.

Mr Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critics, was airlifted to Germany for treatment in August after collapsing on a plane in Russia.

Germany has said he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him, an assertion…