opponent’s team says deal to trade him was ‘in its final stages’ before his death

According to Maria Pevchikh, a collaborator of the opponent, Alexeï Navalny “should have been released in the coming days”, on the basis of an exchange of “Russian spies for political prisoners” detained in Russia.

Alexeï Navalny’s team affirmed, Monday February 26, that an agreement to exchange the opponent was “ongoing and in its final phase” with Russian authorities before his death in prison on February 16. According to Maria Pevchikh, a collaborator of the opponent, Alexeï Navalny should have been exchanged along with “two American citizens” detained by Moscow against a Russian imprisoned in Germany.

According to Maria Pevchikh, the opponent “should have been released in the coming days”. His team “was working” for two years “to go out” Alexei Navalny from prison “at all costs”on the basis of an exchange of“spies Russians against political prisoners” detained in Russia. Washington and Berlin were aware, she assured, without specifying exactly the role of the two chancelleries in the discussions. After several months without progress, the agreement “had been put back on the table in December” 2023, said Maria Pevchikh in a video.

Convicted of assassination in Berlin

According to her, Vadim Krassikov, sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination in 2019 in a Berlin park of a former Chechen separatist, should be included in this exchange of prisoners. According to German justice, this murder was directly ordered by the Russian authorities, who have always denied any involvement. When questioned by journalists, the German government spokesperson refused to comment on the statements by Navalny’s team.

The circumstances of the death of Alexeï Navalny, which moved people around the world, remain unclear. According to the Russian penitentiary service, he died following a sudden malaise “after a walk”. Several Western countries, including the United States, have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible.