Volkov: "Ridiculous!"

US report: Putin did not directly order Navalny’s death

The assessment of the US intelligence services does not deny Putin's guilt in Navalny's death, but states that he probably did not order it at the time.(Bild: AFP/Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

US intelligence agencies believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not directly order the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny.

Although this does not absolve Putin of his responsibility, it does deepen the mystery surrounding the death of the dissident who died in a prison camp in February, wrote the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, citing intelligence sources.

Navalny's team in exile abroad had previously claimed, among other things, that Putin had Navalny killed in order to prevent a planned exchange of the prisoner with Russians imprisoned in the West.

The idea that Putin was not informed and did not approve of Navalny's killing is ridiculous.

Der Nawalny-Vertraute Leonid Wolkow

Putin's guilt is not disputed
The assessment of the US intelligence services does not dispute Putin's guilt in Navalny's death, but states that he probably did not order it at the time. The CIA, the Office of the US Intelligence Coordinator and the Intelligence Division of the US State Department share this opinion.

The assessment of the US intelligence services does not deny Putin's guilt in Navalny's death, but states that he probably did not order it at the time.(Bild: AFP/Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Russian opposition activist and close Navalny confidant Leonid Volkov, who was attacked and injured in exile in Lithuania in March, rejected the US intelligence agencies' assessment as naive. "The idea that Putin was not informed and did not approve of Navalny's killing is ridiculous."

Navalny's death

According to the authorities, Navalny died on February 16 in the prison camp with the unofficial name "Polar Wolf" in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal. The circumstances of his death have not been clarified. The politician, weakened by a poison attack in 2020 and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed during a tour of the icy prison yard and died despite attempts at resuscitation. According to Navalny's team, the death certificate mentions "natural" causes. Navalny's relatives speak of murder.

"Reading without content"
According to the Kremlin, it considers the newspaper's report to be meaningless reading in order to keep the global reading public happy on Saturday. "I wouldn't say it's high quality material," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Kremlin had repeatedly denied having anything to do with Navalny's unexpected death in February 2024.

Nevertheless, Putin had stated that he would have had nothing against replacing Navalny. According to the newspaper report, US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed a proposal for a prisoner exchange a week before Navalny's death. Moscow was particularly interested in freeing a Russian imprisoned in Germany for the murder of a Georgian.