Putin is said to have received a prisoner swap offer before Navalny's death. Memorials to Alexei Navalny are already being set up at many Russian embassies in Europe.
The plan was to free the Kremlin critic in exchange for Russian spies. The development of the plan took a total of two years. Pevchik accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering Navalny’s killing so that the prisoner exchange would not take place. Putin's goal was to check Germany's willingness to extradite Krasikov to Russia.