American intelligence agencies have released a new report stating that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin did not plan to kill opposition figure Alexei Navalny, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, American intelligence agencies have concluded that Putin likely did not order the killing of Navalny in February, although this does not absolve him of responsibility. The assessment was agreed upon by officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the intelligence arm of the State Department.
The assessment by US intelligence is said to be based on a range of classified intelligence, publicly available facts, and how Navalny's death overshadowed Putin's reelection for a second term.
The Wall Street Journal's sources did not say whether the US assessed how Navalny died, although it was reported that he died from sudden death syndrome, which is a general term used to describe various heart syndromes.
Meanwhile, Navalny's longtime ally Leonid Volkov rejected the US intelligence assessment, saying that anyone who claims Putin did not know about Navalny's death clearly does not understand how modern Russia is managed.
"The idea of Putin being not informed and not approving killing Navalny is ridiculous," he said.
Death of Alexei Navalny
Navalny had been in prison since 2021 when he returned to Russia after recovering from a poisoning, which he blamed on Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin denied these accusations.
On February 16, 2024, the politician died in the Arctic colony Polar Wolf, where he was serving a three-year sentence. The politician's death shocked the world, and Putin was immediately blamed for it.
The official cause of Navalny's death has not been announced. Russian media speculated that he passed away due to a thrombus detachment.
More details about the politician's death can be found in the article by RBC-Ukraine.