Did KGB-style punch to the heart kill Alexei Navalny?

It’s been five days since the news broke of Russia’s most popular dissident Alexei Navalny’s death. However, the cause of his death still remains a mystery. At the time of his passing away, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District had said, “On 16 February, in penal colony number 3, convict Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not give positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established.”

Shortly after the 47-year-old’s death, rumours and conjectures began swirling over what led to Navalny ’s demise. And now, a human rights activist, claims that Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, was most likely killed with a punch to the heart, a technique often used by KBG operatives, after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures for several hours.

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Here’s what we know about this new claim.

‘A single punch to the heart’

Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, is of the opinion that Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was killed by a single punch to the heart, a technique used by the KGB.

Speaking to The Times, Osechkin said that the bruising found on Navalny’s body was consistent with the “one-punch” technique that KGB operatives are known to specialise in. “It is an old method of the KGB’s special forces divisions. They trained their operatives to kill a man with one punch in the heart, in the centre of the body. It was a hallmark of the KGB.”

He further told the British publisher that he had been made aware by a source working at the penal colony of Navalny being forced to spend more than two-and-a-half hours’ outdoors in open-air solitary confinement space where temperatures could dip to minus 27 degrees Celsius. “I think that they first destroyed his body by keeping him out in the cold for a long time and slowing the blood circulation down to a minimum,” Osechkin told The Times. “And then it becomes very easy to kill someone, within seconds, if the operative has some experience in this.”

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Osechkin further opined that former prisoners, who had served sentences in the penal colonies in the Arctic region, had previously reported inmates being killed by their jailers in this way.

No official confirmation on Navalny’s death

Osechkin’s theory of Navalny’s demise is just one of the many that is circulating currently. In fact, when Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, was given a notice of the death it stated ‘sudden death syndrome’ as the cause of death. “When Alexei’s lawyer and mother arrived at the colony this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny’s death was sudden death syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, who directs Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Saturday.

For the unaware, ‘Sudden death syndrome’ is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.

Another theory surrounding Navalny’s death is that he died of a blood clot.

Yulia Navalnaya , widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has also accused the Kremlin of hiding his body to cover up killing him in an Arctic penal colony. In a nine-minute video message, she said that authorities were waiting for traces of “yet another Putin's Novichok ” to leave his body — referring to the military nerve agent used to poison him years ago.

As of now, there is no official confirmation as to where is Navalny’s body or what caused his death. On Tuesday, Navalny’s family was told that his body would not be released for two weeks. His mother had been informed that the critic’s body was being held for “chemical analysis.”

The Kremlin speaks

On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the accusations “unfounded and vulgar”, but added that since Navalnaya was widowed just days ago he wouldn’t comment further.

He further added that investigation into Navalny’s death is going on and slammed “vulgar statements” over the Kremlin’s responsibility for Navalny’s death.

“In these conditions, when there is no information, it is unacceptable to make such blatantly vulgar remarks,” Peskov was quoted as saying.

World condemns Russia over Navalny’s death

Peskov’s last statement on “vulgar remarks” came after world leaders blamed Vladimir Putin and his government for the death of Navalny.

US president Joe Biden said Washington does not know exactly what happened, “but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did.”

Voicing similar sentiments, European Union Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Navalny’s death showed that “Putin fears nothing more than dissent from his own people.” She further called it “a grim reminder of what Putin and his regime are all about,” and added it should provide impetus to “unite in our fight to safeguard the freedom and safety of those who dare to stand up against autocracy.”

Apart from world leaders expressing their shock and concern, people across the globe too paid tribute to the fearless critic and commemorated his death by holding memorials. In Russia itself, spontaneous memorials took place in several urban areas, resulting in the detention of over 400 people.

In the Serbian capital of Belgrade, hundreds of Russians and others lit candles and laid flowers outside the Russian embassy, while hundreds gathered in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, holding banners saying “Putin is the killer” and “We will not forgive.”

In Israel too, hundreds rallied outside the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv, chanting “Russia without Putin!” and “Russia will be free!”

Crowds of protesters also rallied in Berlin and Paris, as well as the capitals of Latvia, Bulgaria and Estonia, plus other European cities.

With inputs from agencies