US intelligence agencies believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ultimately responsible for opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death, but he likely did not order it to happen when it did in mid-February 2021.
This new information raises questions about the timing of Navalny's death, which overshadowed Putin's reelection a month later.
The CIA and other US intelligence agencies believe Putin probably didn't give the order to carry out the death at that specific moment.
European officials expressed skepticism about Russian dissident
Alexei Navalny's death in custody without Putin's prior knowledge due to Russia's tight controls.
Biden and other world leaders have publicly blamed Putin for Navalny's death.
Navalny collapsed in prison on February 16 and efforts to revive him failed.
He appeared healthy in a video just a day prior and was reportedly under discussion for a potential prisoner swap a week before his death.
Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, died in prison after serving a 19-year sentence on allegedly fabricated charges.
He previously survived a poisoning that US and other investigators believed was orchestrated by the Kremlin.
Russian officials deny any involvement in Navalny's poisoning or death.
In recent years, several prominent Kremlin opponents have been jailed, exiled, or died.
The National Security Council declined to comment on the report of Navalny's death.