In February, the death of Putin’s main opponent, Alexey Navalny, raised suspicions about the Russian leader’s participation in an alleged murder. Now, according to an American newspaper, US intelligence agencies say that involvement is unlikely.
The report from the Wall Street Journal says he has contacted several sources from the agencies investigating the case and that, among them, the position that rules out Putin’s participation in an alleged murder is widely accepted. Those consulted would have involvement with the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department’s intelligence unit.
Still according to the report, despite the agencies’ allegations, washington does not yet completely rule out the Russian leader’s participation, given that he is the main suspect in an attempted poisoning suffered by the opponent in 2020. Navalny’s allies say that the American conclusion is “naive and ridiculous”.
Since the death, announced by Russian media outlets on February 16, the country’s government has said it was not involved in the supposed murder of the opponent nor was it involved in the poisoning episode. State representatives even said that they were ready to carry out a prisoner exchange that would involve handing Navalny over to the West.
After the article was published, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov diminishes the importance of American conclusions. “I’ve seen the material, I wouldn’t say it’s high quality material that deserves attention,” he told reporters.
