U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably did not directly order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to a source familiar with the assessment.
While acknowledging Putin’s ultimate responsibility for Navalny’s demise, which occurred under harsh conditions during his imprisonment, the intelligence community has found no conclusive evidence linking Putin to the timing or direct ordering of Navalny’s death, the source revealed.
The source, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, emphasized that there is no definitive “smoking gun” indicating Putin’s awareness of Navalny’s death or his direct involvement in orchestrating it.
Following Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden asserted that Putin bore ultimate responsibility but stopped short of directly accusing the Russian president of ordering the killing.
Navalny, a prominent opposition figure in Russia and a persistent critic of Putin, passed away on February 16 while serving a 19-year sentence in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle. He had been imprisoned since January 2021, following his return to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he attributed to the Kremlin.
Russian authorities have insisted that Navalny died of natural causes and vehemently denied any involvement in his poisoning or subsequent death.
Putin secured a fifth term in a landslide reelection victory in March, a month after Navalny’s demise.
The Wall Street Journal initially reported on the U.S. intelligence assessment.