US Intelligence has revealed that the death of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was likely not ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The outlet reported that multiple American intelligence agencies, including the State Department and CIA, have found that Putin did not directly order the assassination of Navalny, who was being held in a prison camp in the north of Russia.
The death in February prompted outcry from the United States and other nations, and led to additional sanctions on Russia, which has faced such punishments since their attack on Ukraine in February of 2022.
“Russia is responsible for this,” said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the wake of Navalny’s death. “We’ll be talking to many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports bear out to be true.”
“Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalny’s wife, Yulia claimed shortly following his death. “We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will tell you about it soon. We will definitely find out who exactly carried out this crime and how exactly. We will name the names and show the faces.”
Notably, the American intelligence assessment did not clear Putin of culpability for the death, just that he likely did not order it. Navalny was reportedly set to be part of a proposed prisoner swap, which could have also included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan in exchange for a Russian operative accused of assassinating a Georgian dissident.
Several allies of Navalny have disagreed with the US’ assessment, such as Leonid Volkov, who told the WSJ, “The idea of Putin being not informed and not approving killing Navalny is ridiculous.”
Slawomir Dębski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, told the WSJ, “Navalny was a high-value prisoner, politically, and everybody knew that Putin was personally invested in his fate. The chances for this kind of unintended death are low.”
Navalny had also previously been poisoned by a Russian nerve agent in August 2020, but survived.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had fled to, being charged with violating his probation in connection with a 2014 embezzlement conviction. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a Russian judge, according to the Daily Caller. Navalny was later sentenced to seven additional years in prison in July 2022, after he criticized Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Author: John Symank
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