Shock revelation about Navalny: Was he murdered with a punch to the heart?

There are many scenarios that try to explain how Alexei Navalny died. Analysts say she was likely killed by a punch to the heart, an old technique taught to her by KGB special forces, after being exposed for hours in freezing conditions.

In particular, according to a report by The Times, Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, said that the bruises found on the opposition leader’s body were consistent with the “one punch” technique, citing a source who works in prisons high security located in the Arctic.

“First they destroyed his body and then they killed him”

At first, Osechkin said that before his death, the Russian opposition leader was forced to spend more than two and a half hours in an outdoor isolation area, where the temperature can drop to minus 27 degrees Celsius. Prisoners were kept outdoors for no more than an hour in such extreme conditions.

“I think they first destroyed his body by keeping him in the cold for a long time and slowing his blood circulation to a minimum,” Osechkin said. “And then it becomes very easy to kill someone, within seconds, if the agent has some experience in this.”

He then stated that “This is an old method of the KGB special forces units. They trained their agents to kill a man with a punch to the heart, in the center of the body. It was a hallmark of the KGB.”

He added that former inmates who had served sentences in the Arctic region had previously reported inmates being killed by their jailers in this manner.

The information about Navalny’s death is fragmentary

The information provided so far by Russian authorities about Navalny’s death is fragmentary and contradictory. His body has not yet been released.

His death was announced by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), which said he had lost consciousness after a walk in the prison, a penal colony known as Polar Wolf in the Yamalo-Nenets region, 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow.

Minutes later, a state-controlled channel on the Telegram messaging site claimed the cause of death was a blood clot. The next day, Navalny’s mother and lawyer received a death notice saying he had died of “sudden death syndrome.”

What did he say about the scenario that he was killed with novichok?

Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, said on Monday that her husband was killed using novichok, the nerve agent with which FSB assassins tried to kill him in August 2020.

Osetzkin said he found it unlikely, saying “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 Novichok would leave traces on his body and lead directly to Putin, given that he has tried it once before.”

What the Gulagu report shows

Last week, Gulagu.net published a report stating that FSB officers visited the prison two days before Navalny’s death and disconnected some of the security cameras and listening devices.

Osechkin said the presence of FSB officers in the prison was evidence that Navalny’s death was ordered by the Kremlin. “From what I know from my sources, it was a special operation that had been prepared several days in advance,” he said.

Finally, he said that “It was an order from Moscow, because without Moscow it would not have been possible to dismantle the security cameras that were in the area in the way they did.”