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Alexei Navalny may have been killed by single punch to heart in infamous KGB techniqie, activist says
The activist said that before the punch, Alexei Navalny had been kept outdoors for over two hours in the subzero temperatures, which weakened his body
Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny may have been killed with a single punch to the heart, a “hallmark of the KGB,” a human rights activist has said. Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, told the Times of London that Navalny was found dead with bruising on his head and chest consistent with the “one-punch” technique. Osechkin cited a source at Polar Wolf penal colon, where Navalny died.
“It is an old method of the KGB’s special forces divisions,” Osechkin said. “They trained their operatives to kill a man with one punch in the heart, in the center of the body. It was a hallmark of the KGB.”
‘They first destroyed his body’
Osechkin said that before the punch, the 47-year-old had been kept outdoors for over two hours in the subzero temperatures of the Yamalo-Nenets region, which weakened his body. “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 said. “And then it becomes very easy to kill someone, within seconds, if the operative has some experience in this.” Osechkin went on to say that other people who had served their time in the prison claimed some of their fellow inmates were murdered this way by guards.
Navalny’s official cause of death has not been revealed. The Russian authorities have not handed over his body to his family, and have claimed that it is required for a two-week “chemical examination,” according to Navalny aide Kira Yarmysh.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, has alleged that Putin’s regime poisoned her spouse with the nerve agent Novichok. She also accused them of trying to cover up the murder by delaying the release of his body to his family.
However, Osechkin does not think this is likely. “It’s possible, of course, but when someone is under the control of the prison system, there are many options as to how to kill them,” the activist said. “Novichok would leave a trace in his body and would lead directly back to Putin, given he has tried it once before.”
The Kremlin has maintained that they are not involved in Navalny’s death. Putin’s spokesperson blasted the allegations as “unfounded and rude.”
