Putin did NOT order the death of no.1 enemy Alexei Navalny, says US intelligence as mystery deepens over critic’s demise

VLADIMIR Putin did not directly order the death of his number one enemy Alexei Navalny, US intelligence agencies have said.

Mystery now deepens over the critic’s death inside the brutal Polar Wolf jail as the finding does not clear Vlad of ultimate responsibility.

Reuters

US intelligence agencies said that Vladimir Putin did not directly order to kill Alexei Navalny[/caption]

AP

Navalny – Putin’s number one enemy – died in an Arctic gulag in February[/caption]

AP

The intel finding does not clear Putin of not having any involvement in the critic’s death[/caption]

Navalny was one of Putin‘s greatest enemies and his leading domestic critic in Russia – bravely challenging the tyrant’s brutal war in Ukraine.

His death in February set off further rounds of sanctions on Russia‘s economy, upended sensitive prisoner swap talks between Russia and the West, and caused chaos among Russia’s small opposition.

But US intelligence agencies have now said that Putin likely didn’t directly order Navalny to be killed at the Arctic gulag, The Wall Street Journal reports.

While not clearing Putin of not having any involvement, the assessment reportedly concluded that he most likely did not order it at that particular time.

The details of Navalny’s death may never be fully known, according to the people who spoke with The Wall Street Journal, and they declined to say whether the American government has evaluated how he died.

Whether intelligence services had come up with any other theories regarding Navalny’s demise was unknown.

Intelligence assessments are usually built on a mosaic of incomplete informational components, combining secret facts with open-source, or publicly available, data streams.

The CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the intelligence branch of the State Department are some of the agencies sharing the claim the intelligence community, sources “familiar with the matter” told the WSJ.

The viewpoint of the United States has been shared with a few European intelligence services.

And according to security authorities from a number of European cities, some nations are still doubtful that Putin was not directly involved in Navalny’s demise.

AFP or licensors

Navalny leaded domestic critic in Russia – bravely challenging Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine[/caption]

Reuters

Navalny died inside the brutal Polar Wolf jail[/caption]

Reuters

Other reports suggested Navalny could have been starved of blood in the hours before his death[/caption]

Those European officials said it is unlikely that harm could have come to Navalny without the president’s previous knowledge in a regime as tightly regulated as Vlad‘s Russia.

Because he was the final opposition figure in Russia with enough political clout to be considered a viable leader, his killing appeared to be the climax of a long-running Kremlin operation to assassinate or exile any potential rivals to Putin.

The Russian despot stated in March that he had agreed to the notion of an exchange between Navalny and people jailed in the West just days before Navalny’s death.

Vlad stated that the sole condition was that he never return to Russia.

The Kremlin has denied participation in Navalny’s death and previous poisoning.

But insiders claim Navalny was tortured to death by being tied up so tightly it cut off blood to his brain.

A new report alleged that the original autopsy results revealed the jailed opposition leader, 47, had blood clots in the arms and muscles – before Kremlin agents covered it up.

Russian human rights organisation gulagu.net was informed by insiders that Putin’s secret service pushed a forensic specialist who examined Navalny’s damaged corpse to conceal his findings.

Initial Russian reports claimed Navalny died on February 16 of a “detached blood clot” in the hellhole Siberian gulag where he had been jailed in a brutal act of political repression.

However, gulagu.net – which is headed by Russian dissident Vladimir Osechkin – claimed: “The forensic expert was pressured to conceal the discovery of blood clots….in the calf muscles and arms”.

This indicated “the formation of blood clots as a result of disruption of normal blood circulation”.

A source told the organisation that the forensic physician concluded “that four to five hours before the onset of biological death, the prisoner was tied up and his arms and legs”.

Gulag.net previously claimed that evidence suggested Navalny was killed by a “single punch to the heart” after being forced to spend hours in freezing cold.

The barbaric method was once a “hallmark of the KGB”.

Maria Pevchikh – an exiled ally of Navalny – said Navalny was poised to be freed in a prisoner swap – but Putin blocked it at the last minute and had his arch foe killed.

Ina shameless election speech last month, Putin appeared to back the theory that Navalny might have been exchanged but said: “Unfortunately, whatever happened, happened”.

Gulag.net is run by Vladimir Osechkin, who lives in exile in France after fleeing Russia following assassination attempts as he tried to expose the Kremlin’s human rights abuses.

In March, he said he narrowly avoided by assassinated and was moved out of his home after by France cops who were tipped off that a Kremlin execution squad was on their way.

AFP

Navalny staged huge anti-Kremlin protests, frequently was imprisoned and claims to have survived multiple assassination attempts before his death[/caption]

Flowers and candles lay outside the Russian embassy after the critic’s death