As of: March 9, 2024, 10:41 a.m
By: Yekaterina Jalunina
Comments
Press
Split
Kremlin critic Navalny dies on February 16th.
Shortly beforehand, Putin is said to have agreed to release him.
Roman Abramowitsch is said to have been the mastermind of a deal.
Moscow – Did Vladimir Putin want to exchange Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for Russians imprisoned in the West?
According to a report from the investigative portal
Agentstvo
, the Russian president met with billionaire Roman Abramovich to discuss the exchange.
This all happened just a few hours before Navalny died in an Arctic prison.
According to a statement from his team, Alexei Navalny should have been released soon.
Then the Kremlin critic died.
© IMAGO/Volha Shukaila
Navalny's death: negotiations with Putin
According to Agentstvo
's sources
, Moscow would have been ready to release Navalny along with two other prisoners.
These are said to be the journalist Evan Gershkovich and the US soldier Paul Whelan.
Germany has now signaled its willingness to extradite Vadim Krassikov.
He is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of a Chechen-Georgian rebel commander in Berlin in 2019.
From peace mediation to prisoner exchange – Navalny's death
Maria Pevchikh, a longtime adviser to Navalny, reported that the idea of swapping Navalny for Krassikov came from Abramovich.
He had previously acted as a mediator in failed peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.
In addition, businessman Vladislav Klyushin, who was sentenced to nine years in prison by a US federal court in 2023, is said to have been considered for an exchange.
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
Navalny's allies had already claimed last month that the activist was killed during the final stages of prisoner exchange talks between Moscow and Western governments.
However, other sources cited anonymous Western officials who had different views on how close both parties had come to an agreement.
My news
To defend against Russia: NATO opens old Soviet air base in Albaniaread
At home in the forests: Swedes are building the NATOs' future flagship tank
Russia satellite images reveal: Putin's weapons cache is bleeding out read
Russian governor wants to make Ukrainian prisoners of war “pay with their blood” read
1 hour ago
Fear in the Baltics: “Putin is 'all in'” read
Unmanned combat robot: Ukraine develops remote-controlled “Phantom-2” tank reading
Navalny's death: Putin 'probably agreed' to prisoner swap
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, who said he had knowledge of the exchange plans, told
Agentstvo
that Putin "probably agreed" to the exchange.
According to Grozev, this could have been either a cover-up of murder plans or a strategic move to bring negotiations to a conclusion.
One of Agentstvo
's four sources
claimed that Putin ordered Navalny's killing after the West agreed to extradite Krasikov to Russia.
(
jek
)