Russian president Vladimir Putin likely did not order dissident Alexei Navalny’s untimely death in an Arctic penal colony earlier this year, U.S. intelligence agencies have determined.
Several U.S. intelligence agencies found that Putin did not order Navalny’s death at the moment he was killed, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Putin’s ultimate culpability for Navalny’s death is not being disputed by the intelligence assessment.
European intelligence officials have been briefed on the American assessment and some remain skeptical, security officials from several European capitals told the Journal. Navalny’s allies expressed similar skepticism of the notion that Putin did not orchestrate Navalny’s death.
“The idea of Putin being not informed and not approving killing Navalny is ridiculous,” said Navalny ally Leonid Volkov.
The U.S. determination is based on a combination of classified intelligence and an analysis of public information, according to the Journal. The people familiar did not specify whether the intelligence agencies figured out how Navalny died.
Navalny, Putin’s fiercest critic, died in February at age 47 after dedicating his life to exposing the authoritarian abuses of the Putin regime. His heath deteriorated significantly during his time in Russian prison for what are widely believed to be sham charges. Last year, Navalny went missing after a serious health incident and his lawyers were prevented from accessing a video feed for his legal proceedings.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, accused Putin of having him poisoned and covering it up by initially preventing his family from seeing his body. The Kremlin dismissed her allegation and claimed Navalny died of natural causes. Years earlier, the Putin regime poisoned Navalny with a nerve agent and he nearly died as a result. Once he fully recovered, Navalny courageously returned to his home country only to be thrown in prison for his opposition to Putin.
The U.S. quickly imposed a fresh wave of sanctions on Russia because of Navalny’s death and the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden blamed Putin for Navalny’s death, given the Putin regime’s track record of having its most outspoken critics die mysteriously.
“They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home,” Biden said of the sanctions.
Russia continues to hold Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in prison indefinitely. Gershkovich’s espionage charges have been strongly denied by the Journal, its parent company, and the U.S. government. Russian authorities have not publicized any evidence against Gershkovich. Whelan is being held under similar espionage charges that he and the U.S. wholeheartedly deny.
The U.S. government believes Gershkovich and Whelan are being wrongfully detained, and seeks to have them exchanged in a prisoner swap.