Russian President Vladimir Putin has been cleared of any involvement in the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny at an Arctic prison camp in February, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Putin probably didn’t order Navalny killed, but have not absolved him of overall responsibility for Navalny’s death, given his long history of persecution by Russian authorities and poisoning in 2020 with a nerve agent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the Journal report as “empty speculation,” but Reuters could not independently verify it.
The Journal report, citing sources familiar with the matter, says that U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Putin probably didn’t order Navalny to be killed in February, despite calls from his opponents for an investigation into the matter. The findings are based on a range of information, including some classified intelligence and an analysis of public facts such as the timing of Navalny’s death and its impact on Putin’s re-election in March.
Navalny, 47 when he died at the Arctic prison camp, was Putin’s fiercest domestic critic. His allies, branded extremists by the authorities, have accused Putin of having him murdered and say they will provide proof to back their allegation. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in Navalny’s death, but Volkov, a senior Navalny aide, called the Journal report “naive and ridiculous.”
Putin’s spokesman Peskov said he had seen the Journal report, which cited sources as saying that the U.S. assessment was based on public facts and an analysis of classified intelligence. But he dismissed it as “empty speculation” and warned against accepting its findings without further verification.
In a statement, the White House said that while the United States did not condone extrajudicial killings or political violence, it had “seen reports” about Navalny’s death and was monitoring the situation closely. The State Department also expressed concern over the matter but declined to comment further.
