Alexei Navalny death unlikely to be ordered by Vladimir Putin, US official says [Video]

In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.

The Wall Street Journal first reported about the US intelligence determination.

Separately, courts in Russia accused two journalists of taking part in the activities of an “extremist” organisation founded by Navalny.

Courts placed Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin in pretrial detention for two months on Saturday after state prosecutors made the accusation.

Loading

It did not provide further details. A spokeswoman for the Navalny movement did not respond to a request for comment.

Neither Gabov nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Video journalist Karelin, who previously worked for the Associated Press among others and has dual citizenship with Israel, was detained in Russia’s northern Murmansk region on Friday, AP reported.

AP said in a statement that it was “very concerned” by …