The latest United States intelligence agencies report concludes that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn’t order opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be killed. Navalny’s death in February sparked wide protests across the globe.
Navalny, 47, Putin’s fiercest critic died at an Arctic prison on February 16. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death. However, Navalny’s family and allies have reiterated the state’s involvement and he was being tortured in the prison.
There were also reports that Navalny’s death was around the time when talks were underway to free him in a prisoner swap between Russia and the West.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, the US intelligence agencies determined that Putin probably didn't order Navalny to be killed in February.
The WSJ report said that Washington had not declared the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny's death. However, given the opposition politician had been targeted by Russian authorities for years, jailed on charges the West said were politically motivated, and had been poisoned in 2020 with a nerve agent.
The Kremlin denied state involvement in the 2020 poisoning then too.
Meanwhile, while commenting on the WSJ report Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that it contained "empty speculation".
"I've seen the material, I wouldn't say it's high-quality material that deserves attention," Peskov told reporters.
“The finding had been "broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department’s intelligence unit," reported WSJ citing sources.