Western leaders were swift to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of responsibility for top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s shock death Friday in an Arctic penal colony at the age of 47.
Reading prepared comments at a press conference Friday, US President Joe Biden praised the dissident’s courage before declaring Putin was to blame for Navalny’s death.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” Biden said at the White House.
“Russian authorities are going to tell their own story,” Biden added. “But make no mistake. Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
Speaking in Munich, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was similarly emphatic, saying that “[Navalny’s] death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built. Russia is responsible for this.”
In response, Russia’s foreign ministry accused the United States of making “sweeping accusations” over who was to blame for Navalny’s death.
“The death of a person is always a tragedy,” it said. “Instead of sweeping accusations, one ought to show restraint and wait for the official results of the forensic medical examination.”
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced Friday that it had launched a procedural probe into Navalny’s death. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that he was shocked by the news, and urged a “full, credible, and transparent investigation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country will soon mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, said to reporters in Munich that “It is obvious: [Navalny] was killed by Putin, as thousands of others were tortured and martyred by this one ‘creature’. Putin does not care who dies as long as he keeps his position. And that is why he should not keep anything. Putin should lose everything and answer for what he has done.”
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that “[i]n today’s Russia, free spirits are put in the Gulag and sentenced to death.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed Navalny’s courage, adding that “he has probably now paid for this courage with his life.”
Senior figures in the European Union also bemoaned Navalny’s death, with EU Council President Charles Michel stating on X that “[t]he EU holds the Russian regime solely responsible for this tragic death.”
In a joint statement, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said that “[Navalny] was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who fear nothing more than dissent from their own people. We will spare no efforts to hold the Russian political leadership and authorities to account.”
Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, which was formed to defend Europe against Russian aggression, issued a more measured statement, saying that “[W]e need to establish all the facts, and Russia needs to answer all the serious questions about the circumstances of his death.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Western accusations of foul play were unacceptable, calling them “absolutely rabid.” The Kremlin has also made an effort to quash public displays of mourning Navalny, as images surfaced on social media showing people laying flowers at memorials to victims of political repression in honor of the deceased dissident.
In his White House comments, Biden seized on Navalny’s death, which he described as Putin’s action, to admonish House Republicans for stalling aid to Ukraine, which has become a flashpoint in a Republican voter base increasingly enthralled by isolationism.
Exemplifying the trend, former US President Donald Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s nomination for election in November, said Saturday that he would “encourage” Russia to invade NATO members “delinquent” on their payments to the organization, drawing strong rebukes.
Trump, who has praised Putin on numerous occasions, has yet to comment on Navalny’s death. According to Politico, his campaign referred to a previous statement Trump issued that mentioned neither Navalny nor the Russian leader when asked for comment.
The former US president’s last remaining opponent for the Republican nomination, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, slammed her rival over his closeness to Putin, writing on X that “Donald Trump continues to side with Vladimir Putin – a man who kills his political opponents, holds American journalists hostage, and has never hidden his desire to destroy America.”
Navalny, a former nationalist politician and Russian lawyer who rose to prominence by producing videos documenting the corrupt dealings of Putin and his acolytes, had been on the Kremlin’s radar for several years.
He fell into a coma after being poisoned by a nerve agent in August 2020, in an attack later attributed to Russian intelligence operatives, though the Kremlin has denied the charges.
After receiving treatment treatment in Berlin, Navalny was detained at the airport upon returning to Moscow in 2021. He had been in jail since then, charged with “extremism.”
In December 2023, two days before Putin announced his bid for reelection in 2024, Navalny disappeared from his Moscow prison, only to reemerge three weeks later in the so-called “Polar Wolf” penal colony above the Arctic Circle, where he had been transferred for unspecified reasons.
According to the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Navalny died Friday after having fainted while feeling unwell following a walk. An ambulance arrived, but was unable to revive him. The cause of death was still “being established,” the Russian jail authority said.