U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February.
ByStream New York's #1 news - Accuweather - original content 24/7likely didn't order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.
While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death - which came soon before the Russian president's reelection - or directly ordered it, according to the official. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017.The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Soon after Navalny's death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it. At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that "there is no doubt" that his death "was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did." Navalny, 47, Russia's best-known opposition politician and Putin's most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated. He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death. In March, a month after Navalny's death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Belarus President Alexander LukashenkoRussian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko hold a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.
Read more »
McConnell celebrates Ukraine aid test vote but blames Tucker Carlson for delayFormer Fox News Host Tucker Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin in February.
Read more »
Lawmakers call for release of Putin’s ‘political prisoner number one'After the death of Alexei Navalny, a Russian human rights lawyer says Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza is now 'prisoner number one,' on President Vladimir Putin's list.
Read more »
Vladimir Putin likely didn't order death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny: US officialU.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February.
Read more »
Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a U.S. official saysU.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February.
Read more »