Alexei Navalny’s team claims in a video posted on Youtube on Monday, the 26th of February, that the Russian opposition politician was deliberately killed on President Vladimir Putin’s orders “on the eve” of a prisoner exchange, as he was about to be released in exchange for FSB assassin Krasikov and two US citizens imprisoned in Germany, reports Politico.
The video, titled “Why did Putin kill Navalny right now?” Maria Pevchikh, a close ally of the opposition politician, said that after months of struggle, “last spring our plan was approved”.
“Navalny was to be free in the coming days because we had reached an agreement on his exchange,” she was quoted. Pevchikh added that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was the personal intermediary between Western officials and Putin to broker the deal. These claims have not been independently verified.
Pevchikh revealed that the deal involved FSB agent Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany for the murder of a former Chechen commander in 2019, and “two US citizens”.
She received confirmation of the exchange plan on the 15th of February but believes that Putin later changed his mind. Pevchikh suggested that
Putin’s intense hatred of Navalny led to the irrational action and described it as the actions of a “mad mafioso”.
The Kremlin has not responded to the statements made by Navalny’s team.
The video did not name the Americans, but potential candidates for such an exchange could be US journalist Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, both of whom have been detained in Russia on what are believed to be false charges.
Putin has not yet commented on Navalny’s death, but in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Putin expressed the possibility of a deal for the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich “if our partners take reciprocal steps”. Putin then referred to “a man who, out of patriotic feelings”, eliminated “a bandit in a European capital”, which was interpreted by many as a reference to a desire to free Vadim Krasikov, writes Politico.
Alexei Navalny’s body was handed over to his mother only on Saturday,
the 24th of February, a week after it was reported that Navalny had collapsed and died after a walk in a penal colony – a day after Pevchikh claimed to have received confirmation that the deal was “in its final stages”.
On Sunday, Kirill Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, said that based on the information at their disposal, Navalny had “indeed” died of a blood clot. Budanov said that this information was “more or less confirmed”, he was quoted by the Kyiv Post.
Also read: BNN INTERVIEW | Aleksejs Grigorjevs: Navalny’s murder proves – Russia is completely a fascist country
Also read: VIDEO | Navalny’s official cause of death still unclear; hundreds detained at Navalny memorial events in Russia
Follow us on Facebook and X!