Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny may have been killed with a single punch to the heart, a "hallmark of the KGB," according to a human rights activist claiming to have insider intel.
The Kremlin's fiercest critic was found with bruising on his head and chest consistent with the "one-punch" technique, Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, told The Times of London, citing a source at the remote "Polar Wolf" penal colon where Navalny died Friday.
"It is an old method of the KGB's special forces divisions," Osechkin said, referring to the much-feared Soviet-era internal security service.
"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.
In preparation for the fatal strike, Navalny, 47, had been kept outdoors for more than two hours in the Yamalo-Nenets region's harsh subzero temperatures to weaken his body, Osechkin said, citing the unidentified source working at the prison.
"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."
Former inmates who had served sentences in the Arctic region had previously reported fellow prisoners being killed by guards in this manner, Osechkin said.
Nearly a week after Russia's prison service reported that Navalny — President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic foe who had survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 — collapsed and died while taking a walk, his official cause of death has not been released.
A death notice that was given to his mother and lawyers stated that Navalny had died from a "sudden death syndrome" — a vague term that describes heart-related issues causing death.
The Russian authorities have refused to hand over his body to his family, saying that it was needed for a two-week "chemical examination," Navalny's aide, Kira Yarmysh, reported.
Navalny's widow, Yulia, has accused Putin's regime of poisoning her husband with the nerve agent Novichok — the same chemical used in his 2020 failed assassination attempt — and then delaying the release of his body to cover up the murder.
Osechkin said he thought this was unlikely.
"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 explained. "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 vehemently denied any involvement in Navalny's death, with Putin's spokesman slamming these allegations as "unfounded and rude."
