Putin comments on Navalny for first time, saying ‘whatever happened, happened’

Russian President Vladimir Putin reveals he had supported a prisoner swap, including opposition leader Navalny, days before his death

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that he was in favor of the idea of a prisoner swap including Navalny days before the opposition leader passed away. In an unusual move, Putin addressed Navalny by name for the first time in years at a late-night press conference that coincided with early results from a presidential election that secured his continuing reign.

Early election results showed Putin comfortably ahead with over 87% of the vote in a contest that lacked genuine competition due to years of silencing opposition voices and limiting independent media.

Before his abrupt death in an Arctic prison colony, Navalny’s allies had previously stated that negotiations for a possible prisoner exchange were approaching completion with both Western and Russian authorities. But Navalny’s lifelong friend Maria Pevchikh claimed that Putin had planned Navalny’s demise to prevent the exchange; nevertheless, Pevchikh’s accusations were unsubstantiated and could not be independently confirmed.

Putin said that he had been told about the planned trade a few days before Navalny died and that he agreed, without offering any proof. But he made it clear that Navalny couldn’t go back to Russia. Renowned Russian opposition leader Navalny died unexpectedly last month while serving a long term for radicalism, which he had denied having political motivations. His supporters, relatives, and Western officials accused the Kremlin of being involved in his killing, despite the Kremlin’s repeated denials.

“It may surprise you, but when I replied, ‘I agree,’ the person talking to me didn’t even finish their sentence,” Putin stated in answer to a journalist’s inquiry about Navalny’s passing. He said, “But unfortunately, whatever happened, happened.”

Despite allegations of foul play, Navalny’s acquaintances said that official records stated “natural causes” for his death. Since Jan. 2021, when Navalny returned to Moscow from Germany and was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning he said was orchestrated by the Kremlin, he has been jailed. With great vehemence, the Russian government has denied any role in the poisoning.

Pevchikh said that Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a Chechen national living in Georgia, would be exchanged for Navalny and two American citizens detained in Russia. Even while the names of the American inmates remained secret, prominent figures like Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who are also accused of espionage in Russia, have garnered global attention.

Source: AP