Russia’s Navalny did not die on Putin’s order: US intelligence
Russia’s opposition figure Alexei Navalny did not die upon an order by President Vladimir Putin, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing US intelligence officials familiar with the matter.
President Joe Biden of the United States had claimed shortly after Navalny’s death in February that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”
Biden had said Putin was ultimately responsible for the opposition figure's death in prison. However, Biden did not directly accuse the Russian president of ordering Navalny's elimination.
Media outlets on Saturday reported that US intelligence agencies did not dispute Putin’s culpability in Navalny’s death, but had concluded that the Russian president probably did not order his death at the time.
The finding was “broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department’s intelligence unit”, the Wall Street Journal cited an anonymous source as saying.
Putin, himself, had described the death of Navalny in prison as an “unfortunate incident”.
He said before Navalny’s untimely death he had agreed to release him in exchange for Russian prisoners held by the West.
Navalny, who had recently organized some of the biggest anti-government protests in Russia, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after a Russian court found him guilty in 2021 of creating an "extremist" community, financing "terrorist" activities, and various other crimes, including fraud.
The 47-year-old had been a long-time critic of Putin, campaigning against the ruling United Russia Party, making repeated allegations of corruption in high ranks.
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