Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died suddenly on Feb. 16, 2024, in an Arctic penal colony, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence. After Navalny's death, some social media posts claimed he had died from a COVID-19 vaccine.
"Alexei Navalny died from the COVID vaccine and the fact that nobody wants to admit it is shameful," said one X post that had more than 1 million views. "Why would you blame Putin for something Navalny did to himself by taking an experimental MRNA vaccine?" it continued. Another post claimed that "Navalny had 5 vaccines from Pfizer and died from a blood clot."
(X user @BruinGOP)
The theory that Alexei Navalny's death was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine is groundless and unsupported by factual evidence. Therefore, we have rated this claim as "Unfounded."
First and foremost, as of Feb. 21, 2024, the exact cause of Alexei Navalny's death remained unknown, with autopsy results pending. Without concrete evidence or the completion of an independent investigation, attributing his death to any specific cause, including a COVID-19 vaccine, is purely speculative.
Neither the statement released on the day of Navalny's death nor any other statement issued by Russian officials mentioned his death was related to a vaccine:
On Feb. 16, 2024, in penal colony number 3, convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.
The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called.
All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict.
The causes of death are being established.
Navalny had been imprisoned in Russia since January 2021 and could not have received an mRNA vaccine — the type purported to have caused his death in the viral posts — as the Russian Ministry of Health did not approve that kind of inoculation. There is no evidence to confirm whether Navalny was vaccinated against COVID-19 at all.
Additionally, false rumors about sudden deaths due to COVID-19 vaccinations have proliferated since the vaccines became available, without any basis in fact.
Finally, although Russian prison authorities informed Navalny's mother that he suffered "sudden death syndrome," that does not indicate his death was vaccine-related, as social media users claimed. As Reuters reported, sudden death syndrome is "a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death."
BBC Verify journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh underscored that the rumor claiming Navalny was killed by the vaccine was just one of many "pro-Kremlin conspiracy theories about Alexei Navalny's death."
Pro-Kremlin conspiracy theories about Alexei Navalny's death are in full circle:
- CIA/MI6 killed Navalny to blame Putin
- Yulia Navalnaya and "her boyfriend" killed Navalny
- Ukraine killed Navalny to get the $60bn US aid package
- Navalny was killed by the Covid vaccine pic.twitter.com/YPXibFWvEb
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) February 19, 2024
U.S. officials have more directly called Russian President Vladimir Putin culpable for Navalny's death and promised sanctions, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying, "Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin's responsible for it." Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh went a step further, posting on X on Feb. 17 that "Alexey Navalny was murdered."
We will update this article when new information comes to light about Navalny's cause of death.
Snopes has also investigated whether Navalny's death notice was posted just two minutes after his official time of death and whether a widely shared image was the last photo of him alive.