Ukraine Military Intelligence Chief Says Navalny Died of a Blood Clot

President Biden blamed Navalny's death on President Putin

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s CIA-backed military intelligence agency, said Sunday that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny died of a blood clot.

“I may disappoint you, but as far as we know, he indeed died as a result of a blood clot. And this has been more or less confirmed,” Budanov said, according to the Kyiv Post. “This wasn’t sourced from the internet, but, unfortunately, natural [causes].”

According to Navalny’s supporters, his death certificate issued by Russian authorities said he died of “natural causes.”

Navalny died at 47 years old while serving a 19-year sentence at a penal colony in Siberia. Immediately after his death, President Biden blamed it on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” Biden said.

In response to Navalny’s death, the US announced sanctions on 500 Russia-related targets. It’s unclear if the measures will have any impact on the Russian economy since the US has already imposed a significant number of sanctions, and Russia is adapting to not being reliant on the US-led global financial system.

The US has not responded to or spoken out about Gonzalo Lira, an American citizen who recently died in a Ukrainian prison after being jailed for his political views. Lira’s last communication to his attorney said that he was battling a severe case of pneumonia that he said was initially ignored by Ukrainian authorities. His father said the US government did nothing to help his son.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.