Kostroma region deputy governor Alekandr Fisher commented that the diplomats did not meet any officials or regional government employees, although they did request a meeting before arriving. Navalny and Volkov both denied that a meeting with diplomats had taken place, at least during the filming.

„They were some foreign journalists. Presumably from the German channel ARD,“ a source in the RPR-PARNAS party, allied with Navalny‘s party in the elections, told Moskovsky Komsomolets.

LifeNews identified the apparent diplomat in the cafe as Bradford Bell. A LinkedIn page for the name identifies Bell as a Foreign Service Officer at the US State Department who is currently in Russia.