“There is no doubt about it”
Biden: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death
February 16, 2024, 8:30 p.m
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Navalny’s death also prompted US President Biden to make a statement. The Democrat said the news shocked him but didn’t surprise him. He praises the Kremlin critic as a “powerful voice for the truth.”
US President Joe Biden has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny. “Putin is responsible,” Biden said in Washington. He doesn’t know exactly what happened. “But there is no doubt that Navalny’s death was a result of something Putin and his thugs did.”
Biden also said he was shocked but not surprised by the news of Navalny’s death. Putin poisoned Navalny, had him arrested and charged with trumped-up crimes, the US President said. He put him in solitary confinement. But none of that stopped Navalny from denouncing lies, even in prison. “He was a powerful voice for the truth.”
Navalny could certainly have lived in exile, Biden said. Instead, he returned to Russia to continue his work, even though he knew he could be imprisoned or killed. Navalny acted this way because he believed so much in his country. Biden also said he had no reason to believe that the Russian authorities’ reports about Navalny’s death were inaccurate.
“I hope to God this helps” persuade the US Congress to send more aid to Ukraine, he added. “The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten,” Biden said. “And the clock is ticking. Something has to be done. We have to provide help now. We have to be clear about who we are dealing with with Putin.”
Disappeared for several weeks in December
The Russian judiciary announced Navalny’s death this morning. The prison administration in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug officially announced that the 47-year-old collapsed after walking in the courtyard. Navalny’s colleague Ivan Zhdanov said that Navalny was “most likely” dead.
Just a few weeks ago, Navalny was transferred from the European part of Russia to the prison camp in the town of Charp in Siberia, north of the Arctic Circle. Before the presidential election on March 17, the Kremlin wanted to isolate him there even more, Navalny speculated.
Last December, the Putin opponent, who was classified as a political prisoner, disappeared for several weeks until he appeared in the camp in Charp. Navalny repeatedly filed lawsuits against the prison system for violating his rights. He used the court appearances not least to scathingly criticize Putin’s authoritarian system and Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Because of alleged violations of camp rules, he was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement.