U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn’t order the killing of opposition politician Alexei Navalny at an Arctic prison camp in February, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Navalny, a fierce critic of Putin, died at the age of 47, sparking accusations from his allies that Putin was behind his murder. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in Navalny’s death, with Putin expressing sadness over the incident and mentioning the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the West.
The U.S. intelligence assessment, as reported by the Journal, suggests that while Putin may not have directly ordered Navalny’s killing, he still bears overall responsibility for the opposition politician’s death. Navalny had been targeted by Russian authorities for years, facing politically motivated charges and surviving a poisoning with a nerve agent in 2020.
The report also highlighted that the U.S. assessment was based on a variety of information, including classified intelligence and analysis of public facts surrounding Navalny’s death. Despite the findings, Navalny’s aide, Leonid Volkov, dismissed the U.S. conclusions as naive and ridiculous.
The news of the U.S. intelligence assessment adds another layer to the ongoing controversy surrounding Navalny’s death and the implications it has for relations between Russia and the West.