Alexei Navalny's team said Monday, February 26, that an agreement to exchange the opponent was "ongoing and in its final stages" with Russian authorities before his death in prison, a little over a year ago. week.
“I received confirmation that the negotiations were underway and in their final phase,” she added, assuring that the opponent “should have been released in the days to come.” According to Maria Pevchikh, her team had been “working” for two years to “get” Alexeï Navalny out of prison “at all costs”, on the basis of an exchange of “Russian spies for political prisoners” held in Russia.
Washington and Berlin were aware, she assured, without specifying exactly the role of the two chancelleries in the discussions. Neither the United States nor Germany have yet confirmed that these negotiations will take place. Questioned by journalists, the spokesperson for the German government also refused to comment on the statements of Alexeï Navalny's team.
After several months without progress, the agreement “was put back on the table in December” 2023, said Maria Pevchikh in a video.
Russia detains several Americans
According to her, Vadim Krasikov, sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2019 assassination in a Berlin park of a former Chechen separatist, should have been included in this prisoner exchange. According to German justice, this murder was directly ordered by the Russian authorities, who have always denied any involvement.
Russia is detaining, among others, several Americans, including Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned since March 2023 for espionage – an accusation that the person concerned, his employer and his family reject –, as well as a former marine, Paul Whelan.
The circumstances of the death of Alexeï Navalny, which shocked the world, remain unclear. According to the Russian Prison 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.
