Whereas US officers imagine Putin was finally chargeable for the demise of Navalny, who endured brutal circumstances throughout his confinement, the intelligence neighborhood has discovered “no smoking gun” that Putin was conscious of the timing of Navalny’s demise — which got here quickly earlier than the Russian president’s reelection — or instantly ordered it, based on the official.
The official spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate the delicate matter.
On the time, Biden stated the US didn’t know precisely what had occurred to Navalny however that “there isn’t any doubt” that his demise “was the consequence of one thing that Putin and his thugs did”.
Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died on February 16 in a distant penal colony above the Arctic Circle whereas serving a 19-year sentence on extremism expenses that he rejected as politically motivated.
He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, the place he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Russian officers have stated solely that Navalny died of pure causes and have vehemently denied involvement each within the poisoning and in his demise.
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In March, a month after Navalny’s demise, Putin gained a landslide reelection for a fifth time period, an consequence that was by no means unsure.
The Wall Avenue Journal first reported concerning the US intelligence willpower.