:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/I53HZ4SFMFFNLNHGNNWWZARRI4.jpg "A prisoner swap for Alexei Navalny was in the final stages before the Russian opposition leader’s death")
Associates of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have made shocking claims that negotiations were underway shortly before his death to exchange him for a Russian imprisoned in Germany. Maria Pevchikh, a close associate of Navalny who lives outside of Russia, said in a videotaped statement that on February 15, a day before Navalny’s death was reported, he had received confirmation that talks were in the “final phase.”
According to Pevchikh, Navalny and two American citizens detained in Russia were to be exchanged for Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder in Berlin of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent. Pevchikh did not identify the U.S. citizens who were supposedly part of the deal, but mentioned Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan.
German officials have declined to comment on whether there were any efforts by Russia to secure a trade for Krasikov. When asked about potential trade prospects earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin mentioned a man imprisoned in a “US-allied country” for allegedly killing Russian soldiers during separatist fighting in Chechnya, which appeared to be a reference to Krasikov.
In the wake of Navalny’s death on February 16 in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges, his associates are accusing Putin of ordering the killing of the opposition leader. Pevchikh called Putin’s decision to torpedo the exchange with Krasikov “irrational” and “the behavior of a crazy gangster.”
German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann declined to comment on the claims made by Navalny’s team. The medical certificate given to Navalny’s mother states that he died of “natural causes” in the prison, but his followers and widow reject this official version and believe he was murdered on Putin’s orders.
The circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death and the alleged negotiations for his exchange have raised further questions about the Kremlin’s involvement and the true motivations behind his untimely demise.