Ukraine's Defence Intelligence chief claims Navalny died of natural causes

Vigil for Alexei Navalny held in front of the Russian Consulate General in Munich. Stock photo: Getty Images
Vigil for Alexei Navalny held in front of the Russian Consulate General in Munich. Stock photo: Getty Images
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Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, has stated that Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny died of natural causes, specifically a blood clot.

Source: Budanov on the sidelines of Ukraine. Year 2024 forum, as reported by hromadske

Quote: "I may disappoint you, but we know he died from a blood clot. It's more or less confirmed. This is not taken from the Internet, but, unfortunately, a natural [death – ed.]."

Details: Budanov also urged people not to believe that Russia's regime "will be toppled naturally, by itself," stating that "without our help, it is unrealistic."

He also stated that a stable regime in Russia is a threat to Ukraine and the world, and that Ukraine will continue to conduct operations on Russian territory.

"As long as we are at war, there will be problems within the Russian Federation," Budanov added.

In addition, he announced new attacks on Russian military bases in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

"New surprises await our enemies, and I would not recommend the civilian population using the so-called Crimean 'bridge'," Budanov wrote on Telegram.

Background:

  • On the afternoon of 16 February, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at Correctional Facility No. 3 in Kharp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in northwestern Siberia.

  • Alexei Navalny had been imprisoned since early 2021. The Moscow City Court sentenced him to 19 years in prison in a high-security prison for "extremism" in August 2023.

  • On the morning of 19 February,  Lyudmila Navalnaya arrived at the morgue in the town of Salekhard where the body of her son, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, was allegedly kept. Still, neither she nor her lawyers were allowed in. On 20 February, Lyudmila recorded a video appeal to the president of Russia, demanding her son's body be returned so that she could bury him.

  • On 24 February, Russia’s prison employees finally handed over the body of opposition leader Alexei Navalny to his mother.

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