Putin likely did not order death of Russian opposition leader Navalny, US intelligence officials say

KYW Newsradio Audio On-Demand

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely did not order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February.

Soon after Navalny’s death, President Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse him 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.”

Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes.

(Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)