US official believes Putin did not order the death of Russian opposition leader Navalny

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for Navalny’s death, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that directly links Putin to the timing or ordering of the opposition leader’s death. Navalny, 47, died on February 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he claimed were politically motivated.

President Joe Biden had previously stated that Putin was ultimately responsible for Navalny’s death, but did not directly accuse him of ordering it. Biden emphasized that there was no doubt that Navalny’s death was a result of actions taken by Putin and his associates.

Navalny, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied any involvement in the poisoning or Navalny’s subsequent death.

In March, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, despite the controversy surrounding Navalny’s death. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the U.S. intelligence determination regarding Putin’s alleged involvement in Navalny’s death.