WASHINGTON – US intelligence agencies have found that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely did not order opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death at a prison camp in February, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

While the assessment did not dispute Mr Putin’s culpability for the death, it found that the timing possibly was not as intended by the Russian leader, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The finding is 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, according to the report.

The WSJ said in its report that Washington had not absolved the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny’s death, given that the opposition politician had been targeted by the 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 denies state involvement in the 2020 poisoning.

The mysterious death of Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, at an Arctic prison in February triggered a fresh round of tensions between Russia and the West at a time when relations were fractured by the Ukraine conflict.

The death sparked the biggest unauthorised protests since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 27 that he had seen the WSJ report, which he said contained “empty speculation”.

“I’ve seen the material, I wouldn’t say it’s high quality material that deserves attention,” Mr Peskov told reporters when asked about the matter.

The latest assessment was based on a range of information such as classified intelligence and an analysis of public facts, including the timing of his death and how it overshadowed Mr Putin’s re-election, the WSJ report said.

Some European intelligence agencies have been told of the latest US view, it said.

Navalny fell sick during a walk at the remote maximum-security prison camp in the Arctic where he was last held, and medical staff were unable to revive him, the prison authorities said on Feb 16. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS