American intelligence agencies have found that the death of Russian opposition leader and dissident Alexei Navalny was likely not ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Navalny’s February death in a prison camp in Russia’s Arctic regions prompted the United States and other countries to levy additional sanctions on the Russian economy, and derailed negotiations on prisoner exchanges. However, multiple American intelligence agencies, including the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, have assessed that Putin did not directly order the death of Navalny, according to the WSJ. (RELATED: ‘A Very Brave Guy’: Trump Praises Fallen Putin Opponent After Being Criticized For Initial Response)
“The idea of Putin being not informed and not approving killing Navalny is ridiculous,” Navalny ally Leonid Volkov said, according to the WSJ. Navalny survived being poisoned with a Russian nerve agent in August 2020.
But it was a convenient narrative at the time. And the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian propaganda. How many other news agencies will report this finding? We’ll just get the standard, Move along, nothing to see here. Media pedaled disinformation.https://t.co/rOpf08L37e
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) April 28, 2024
“Navalny was a high-value prisoner, politically, and everybody knew that Putin was personally invested in his fate. The chances for this kind of unintended death are low,” Polish Institute of International Affairs director Slawomir Dębski told the WSJ.
However, the American intelligence assessment did not clear Putin of any culpability for the death of the Russian opposition leader who was reportedly to be part of a proposed prisoner swap that could have also included jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan in exchange for a Russian operative accused of assassinating a Georgian dissident.
Russian authorities arrested Navalny in January 2021 on charges of violating his probation in connection with a 2014 embezzlement conviction. He was later sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a Russian judge.
Navalny was sentenced to seven years in prison in July 2022 for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department and the CIA did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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