Ekaterina Girnyk15:09, 02/26/24

On February 15, confirmation was received that the negotiations were at the final stage, and on February 16, Navalny died.

Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Foundation Maria Pevchikh said that they planned to exchange Alexei Navalny for the killer, Russian FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who is serving time in Germany. According to her, the agreement on the exchange was reached the day before the death of the politician.

As Meduza writes , according to Pevchikh, Putin decided to kill Navalny because he did not want to see him free.

“Navalny should have been free in the coming days. Because we have achieved a decision on his exchange… I received confirmation that negotiations are underway and are at the final stage on the evening of February 15. On February 16, Alexey was killed,” Pevchikh said.

She said that Putin was made clear: the only way to get Krasikov is to exchange him for Navalny. At the same time, according to her, Putin is “obsessed with hatred of Navalny” and that the Russian President “hates him so much that he acts to the detriment of himself and his own rational interests.”

At the same time, the source of the “VChK-OGPU”  said that “recently, on the verbal instructions of a high-ranking official of the Administration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was working on the issue of depriving Alexei Navalny of Russian citizenship.” It is noted that the order from the Kremlin seemed to be related to the preparation of Navalny’s exchange.

At the same time, sources of the TG channel Gulagu.net refute the report about the feasibility of exchanging Navalny for the Russian special services killer Krasikov.

“At the top of the list for exchange is journalist and US citizen Evan Gershkovich, and for the US authorities today the obvious priority is the release of the US citizen, who was de facto taken hostage for bargaining and the release of Krasikov,” the message says.

Who is Vadim Krasikov

Vadim Krasikov was convicted of murdering the “enemy of the Kremlin” Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin. Then the German prosecutor’s office claimed that the Russian government ordered the crime. 

In Russia, the issue of exchanging Krasikov was repeatedly raised ; among the possible candidates for the exchange were Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

Death of Navalny

Alexei Navalny died on February 16 in the Polar Wolf correctional colony, located in the Russian village of Kharp. The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia said that the oppositionist allegedly suddenly became ill after a walk, and doctors were unable to save him – the politician “lost a blood clot.”

At the same time, the mother of politician Lyudmila Navalnaya  refuses to hand over the body, citing the need for a “chemical analysis” .

(C)UNIAN 2024