U.S. intelligence organizations have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin possibly did not directly get the killing of Alexei Navalny at a distant penal colony in February, according to a few sources common with the matter. But the specific instances of the opposition leader’s dying at the Arctic prison stay unclear.
The assessment does not absolve Putin of supreme duty for Navalny’s fate, only that the Russian president possible did not simply call for his killing at that time, the resources explained. By sending Navalny to the infamous higher-security penal colony in a distant city previously mentioned the Arctic Circle, the Kremlin had efficiently imposed a dying sentence on the opposition leader, the sources claimed.
The conclusions reflected a wide consensus across various intelligence organizations, the sources reported.
The Wall Street Journal was 1st to report the intelligence community’s assessment.
Subsequent Navalny’s dying, President Joe Biden stated that while Washington lacked information on the exact instances, “there is no doubt that the dying of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did.”
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Services mentioned in a statement at the time that Navalny experienced died right after emotion unwell next a stroll.
The CIA and the Place of work of the Director of Countrywide Intelligence declined to comment.
Navalny was 47 when he died and was serving a combined 30 ½-12 months jail sentence. As Russia’s most higher-profile and common dissident, Navalny’s loss of life dealt a significant blow to the country’s opposition motion, which has been brutally suppressed by the Kremlin.
Through a business trip in Russia in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a military services nerve agent, Novichok. Navalny and Western officials blamed the attempt on Navalny’s life on Putin.
The poison used on Navalny was related to the just one the Russian military intelligence services used in opposition to a retired Russian navy intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in a 2018 assassination try in the United Kingdom, according to Western governments.
Russia has denied the govt was associated in Navalny’s poisoning in 2020 or his death in prison in February.
Before Navalny’s death, there had been tentative conversations about a feasible prisoner exchange with Russia involving Navalny and Us residents detained in Russia, NBC News earlier documented.
Navalny’s allies allege that Putin had the dissident killed to thwart the proposed prisoner swap that would have freed him.
Russia has denied the accusation.
