According to US intelligence, Vladimir Putin most likely did not give the order to assassinate Alexei Navalny

NEW DELHI: The Wall Street Journal said on Saturday that US intelligence services have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin most likely did not order the opposition lawmaker Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic detention camp in February.

When he passed away, 47-year-old Navalny was one of Russia’s most well-known opponents of Putin. His supporters, who have been classified as radicals by the Russian government, have accused Putin of planning his assassination and promised to provide proof to back up their allegation.
The Kremlin has always denied any role in Navalny’s death, in spite of these charges.

Putin himself called Navalny’s death “sad” and said he would help arrange a prisoner swap with the West, but only if Navalny never came back to Russia. Those close to Navalny said that talks on just such an exchange were continuing.
The Wall Street Journal’s sources claim that while US intelligence services are of the opinion that Putin did not order Navalny’s death, they have not cleared him of all liability for Navalny’s demise. This judgment is based on Navalny’s history of persecution by Russian authorities, which includes his detention on accusations that the West believed to be politically motivated and his 2020 nerve agent poisoning, an event in which the Kremlin has denied any role.

The Central Intelligence Agency, the office of the director of national intelligence, and the intelligence arm of the State Department all concur with the US assessment, which has been widely accepted throughout the intelligence community, according to the Journal. The evaluation draws on a range of sources, including declassified intelligence and an examination of publicly available data, including the date of Navalny’s death and its implications for Putin’s reelection in March.
Leonid Volkov, a key assistant to Navalny, dismissed the US conclusions as irrational and ignorant.