As of: February 17, 2024, 10:49 a.m
By: Marcus Giebel
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One can only speculate about the alleged death of Alexei Navalny.
Did Vladimir Putin help?
Or were completely different forces at work?
Berlin – If the report of his death is true, Alexei Navalny spent the last three years of his life behind bars.
In various prison camps, apparently under inhumane conditions.
And there would have been many more years, because Russia's best-known Kremlin critic was exposed to long prison sentences - for example on charges of extremism.
Navalny dead?
Apparently a prisoner exchange was planned - with a US journalist and the zoo murderer
But Navalny might have been granted freedom much earlier.
At least that's what
Bild
reporter Paul Ronzheimer suggests in his podcast.
“There has been and continues to be speculation for weeks and months that Navalny could have been replaced.
So it’s a prisoner exchange,” emphasized the 38-year-old in the latest episode of “Ronzheimer” with his colleague Filipp Piatov.
According to this, Russia would have released Navalny and the imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich from the
Wall Street Journal
if it had gotten Vadim Krassikov - the so-called Tiergarten murderer - back from Germany.
“Apparently there had been isolated discussions about this – I can’t go into details now,” Ronzheimer added.
This was discussed “also in the German political scene,” “including in the government.”
Memorial: In St. Petersburg, people laid photos of Alexei Navalny and flowers after the death was announced.
© imago
Speculation about Navalny and Putin: The Kremlin boss apparently really wants the Tiergarten murderer back
The tabloid journalist, who also works as a war reporter, also refers to the interview with Vladimir Putin by US reporter Tucker Carlson, who is known for his conspiracy theories and was only a few days old.
In the conversation, when asked about Gershkovich, the Kremlin chief also hinted at a prisoner exchange with Krassikov - at least that was the interpretation of many observers.
Putin had spoken of a “person” with “patriotic feelings” who had “eliminated a bandit in a European capital.”
Krasikov was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Georgian officer Zelimkhan Changoshvili with two shots in Berlin.
According to Ronzheimer, the former intelligence officer is a man “whom Putin absolutely wants back.”
Gershkovich is accused of espionage in Russia, which the 32-year-old and his employer vehemently deny.
According to the Russian news agency Interfax,
his pre-trial detention was
most recently extended until March 30, which would have meant he would have spent a year behind bars.
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Putin and the prisoner exchange: “How should we do it now?”
Rumors had already emerged last September about a prisoner exchange between the prominent prisoners.
However, even back then, experts found it hard to imagine that the convicted murderer Krassikov would be released.
Ronzheimer is now using this personality to question whether Putin could have helped in Navalny's death so shortly before the presidential election in March.
After all, there has been speculation about the exact circumstances since the sad news spread.
The Bild
reporter therefore asked
what interest the Russian President should have in Navalny's death at this point in time, "if he really wants to get this zoo killer released"?
And then: “How are you supposed to have an exchange with Putin now, after what happened?”
Did he want to release Alexei Navalny in a prisoner exchange?
Vladimir Putin is said to have had plans for the apparently deceased Kremlin critic.
© imago
Putin and the death of Navalny: “Now he’s back as the murderer of an opposition politician”
In the case of Navalny, of course, “it cannot be ruled out that he died for health reasons because of what he experienced there in the last few months.
We can't rule that out either." After all, the health of Putin's opponent, who was the victim of a poison attack in 2020, is said to have deteriorated dramatically during his time in prison.
Ronzheimer also points out: “There is now a great stir internationally again.
Putin is once again seen as a murderer, an opposition politician, a hero - at least abroad.
What good would that do him?”
Speculation about Navalny's death: Are more radical forces than Putin behind it?
He brings into play a train of thought that he claims to have picked up around the Munich Security Conference.
It's about a "theory that was also floating around in the conference - not publicly now, but behind closed doors, so to speak.
That there could also be people who are even more radical than Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin or elsewhere in Russia.”
It seems hard to imagine that the truth will ever come to light.
Putin probably has no interest in this either – regardless of his role.
On top of that, Navalny would be far from the first opposition figure to die under questionable circumstances.
And – this is to be feared given all the experiences from the recent past – it won't be the last either.
(mg)