Former U.S. Russian Ambassador Mourns ‘Friend’ Navalny: ‘Putin Killed Navalny. Let’s Be Crystal Clear’

A former U.S. ambassador to Russia declared it’s “crystal clear” Russian President Vladimir Putin is behind the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Navalny’s death was revealed by the Federal Penitentiary Service. They claimed he was walking and collapsed and died. Navalny was a staunch critic of Putin, and he was one of the more successful critics of the longtime leader. He 2013, he managed to get 27% of the vote in the Moscow mayoral race. The activist was imprisoned after returning to Russia in 2021.

Former U.S. Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul mourned his friend on Friday and put the blame for his death entirely on Putin during a Morning Joe appearance. McFaul, who is an NBC News analyst now and the director of the Institute for International Studies at Stanford, revealed he’s been speaking with Navalny’s family since learning of his death.

“Guys, I don’t know what to say. I’m going to try to be analytic, but I want you to know, Alexei Navalny was my friend. I was with his wife last night, I’m here in Munich, talking to her. His daughter, Dasha, goes to school at Stanford, so this is a pretty emotional time for me,” McFaul said.

He followed up by accusing Putin of murdering his friend out of weakness.

“Putin killed Navalny. Let’s be crystal clear about that,” the former ambassador said. “I don’t care about any, you know, investigation. He was arrested, they had him in solitary confinement. He has put him in a cell which was designed to kill, and today, he is dead. Putin killed Navalny. And why did he do it? Because Putin is weak. You don’t kill people if you’re strong. Putin killed Navalny because Navalny was the one opposition leader in Russia that Putin feared the most.”

Watch above via MSNBC.