“Alexei Navalny should have been released.” According to his team, a prisoner exchange agreement was sealed with the Kremlin shortly before the death of the opponent on February 16. It is Maria Pevchikh, close ally of Alexeï Navalny, who speaks in front of the camera in a seven-minute video published on Youtube this Monday, February 26. She tells behind the scenes of the negotiations which lasted “two whole years”. The objective of the operation: to lift the veil on the timing chosen by the Kremlin to “execute” the political opponent “followed and admired by millions of people”.
“We all understand the reasons why Putin assassinated Navalny: Navalny was a real politician. Navalny was everything Putin will never be. Why Putin hated Navalny. But why kill him now? Well I know the answer to this question and I will explain it to you”, introduces Maria Pevchikh, anti-corruption investigative journalist and activist.
A plan imagined from February 2022
His story opens at the end of February 2022, at the time of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “We see that Putin does not hesitate to eliminate those who do not follow him, and therefore understand that it is urgent that Alexei be released, whatever the price to pay,” she says. A leitmotif which, however, appears to be an almost impossible mission, as the Russian authorities are so impervious to any discussions when it comes to political opponents.
“But two years ago, a solution was found,” continues Maria Pevchikh. This consists of proposing the exchange of Russian spies imprisoned in Europe for political prisoners held captive in Russia. A viable solution, especially since “maneuvers of this type have already taken place in the past”, she underlines. Only problem: “Alexei is a Russian citizen and politician and is therefore not eligible for trade, especially since foreign countries are not obliged to protect his rights.”
Vadim Krasikov versus Alexei Navalny
But the opponent’s entourage does not lose hope. Enormous efforts are being made. Dozens of trips are made. Hundreds of calls were made, many of them unanswered. To carry out the operation, Alexeï Navalny’s team would have been supported by the journalist and investigator Christo Grozev, to whom Maria Pevchikh recognizes the authorship of the plan.
“As soon as the plan is validated, Christo Grozev begins looking for Russian spies” imprisoned in European countries or the United States. A certain Vadim Krasikov, a former FSB agent, was quickly identified as a putative bargaining chip. The prisoner, charged with the murder of two American citizens, is serving a life sentence in Germany. A bankable figure in the eyes of Russia, thinks the opponent’s entourage, who agrees to offer him as a bargaining chip.
In his interview with former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin notably presents Vadim Krasikov as a character, who “driven by a patriotic feeling, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals”. In this same interview, the head of the Kremlin said he was “ready to talk”, assuring that “talks are underway”.
Navalny, too valuable a bargaining chip
That Vladimir Putin is calling for the release of Vadim Krasikov is one thing. That he agrees to hand over his number one political opponent to a Western power is another. According to Navalny’s entourage, the master of the Kremlin would certainly have bet on his ability to recover Vadim Kraskov without freeing Alexeï Navalny, to whom he has “boundless hatred”.
“Putin said to himself that from the moment the Europeans are ready, in principle, to exchange Krasikov, he only had to get rid of the bargaining chip that Navalny was while waiting for him to be suggest someone else,” Maria Pevchikh wants to believe.
Reason why despite an apparent plan “effective from December”, the Kremlin did not keep its word. “On Thursday February 15, 2024, I received confirmation that the negotiations were coming to an end,” Maria Pevchikh quickly explains. The next day, Russian authorities announced the death of Alexeï Navalny.
“It’s absolutely illogical, irrational, it’s the behavior of a mafioso. But the fact is that Putin has gone crazy with hatred towards Navalny,” insists the Russian journalist. And added: “Putin hates him so much that he commits acts that go against his own interests.”
Roman Abramovitch’s intervention
In this video, Maria Pevchikh also lists the names of some actors who would have played the role of mediators in this matter. Roman Abramovich is one of them. The Russian-Israeli-Portuguese billionaire is then presented by Maria Pevchick as an “informal negotiator” who, “while communicating with American and European officials, represents Putin”.
“After Alexei’s death, I was told that Roman Abramovich was the one who delivered the proposal to Putin to exchange Navalny (for Krasikov). Through mutual acquaintances, I asked him what Vladimir Putin had answered”. Unsurprisingly, the questions from Navalny’s entourage will go unheeded. “But he didn’t deny anything either,” emphasizes Maria Pevchick.
In addition, Alexeï Navalny’s ally criticizes German and American leaders for not having kept their promises. “They said they were ready to do anything to secure Alexei’s release. Result? They did nothing.” Maria Pevchikh cites in particular the name of former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died on November 29. “A friend of Putin who didn’t help at all,” she laments. Against “those who risked their careers, and for some, their lives by conducting negotiations with Putin’s henchmen”.