US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin probably did not order the killing of Navalny – WSJ

US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin “probably did not order” Navalny to be killed at the Arctic prison colony, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal, a finding that deepens the mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death.

The assessment services do not dispute Putin’s guilt for Navalny’s death, but rather believe that he probably did not order it at the time, writes the WSJ.

The finding is widely accepted within the intelligence community and shared by multiple agencies, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department’s intelligence unit, the people said. Some European intelligence agencies have been briefed on the US point of view.

And the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service, Kirilo Budanov, said in February that Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny died of natural causes, according to Meduza.

“I may disappoint you, but we know he died of a blood clot. It is more or less confirmed. This is not taken from the Internet, but, unfortunately, a natural death,” said Budanov.

Navalnyi lost consciousness and died on February 16 after a walk to the “Polar Wolf” penal colony, the prison service of the Yamalia-Nenets region, where the Putin critic was serving his sentence, announced.

Russian authorities have told Alexei Navalny’s mother that Russia’s most prominent opposition leader has been stricken with “sudden death syndrome”.

“Sudden death syndrome” is a loose term for various cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement

The Kremlin has vehemently denied any involvement in Navalny’s death, with Putin’s spokesman calling the accusations “baseless and gross”.

Later, Putin promoted the deputy head of the Russian Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Valeri Boiarinev, who Navalny’s supporters say was personally responsible for torturing the Russian dissident in prison. Boyarinev was promoted to the rank of colonel-general of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The death of Alexei Navalny in February in an Arctic penal colony prompted a new wave of sanctions targeting Russia’s economy, upended delicate prisoner exchange negotiations between Russia and the West and left Russia’s limited opposition in disarray.