The co-religionists of the late Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalnythey accused the Russian president today, Vladimir Putinof order his murder days before his exchange for a Chechen convicted in Germanywhile the family prepares the funeral so that his numerous supporters can say goodbye to the politician.
“Navalni should have been released in a few days, since we reached a decision on his exchange,” said María Pevchij, close collaborator of Navalni, in a video on YouTube.
The opposition’s allies claim that it was Putin who decided to torpedo the exchange at the last minute, which also included American citizens.
«On February 16, 2024, Vladimir Putin killed Alexei Navalny. He killed him in a vile and cowardly way in a distant Siberian prison, where Navalny was separated from the rest of the world, separated from his family and loved ones, starved and tortured.«, said.
Two years of negotiations
The start of the war in Ukraine two years ago convinced the opposition’s collaborators that they had to get him out of prison “at any price.”
Pevchij explains that at the beginning of February Putin received the proposal to exchange his number one enemy and two other American citizens for the Chechen Vadim Krásikov, who murdered the Georgian Zelimjan Jangoshvili in Berlin in August 2019, for which he was sentenced to prison. life by a German court.
“I received confirmation that the negotiations were underway and were in their final phase on the afternoon of February 15,” that is, one day before the “murder” of the opponent, he stressed.
The opponent specified that Navalny’s co-religionists spent two years preparing the exchange and accused American and German officials of showing little political will.
In the video he reveals that the man who informed Putin of the plan to exchange Navalni was the tycoon Roman Abramovich, who also mediated between Moscow and kyiv at the time.
Dead before free
Instead, something went wrong at the last moment. Some experts believe that the fact that Navalny launched a campaign against Putin’s re-election in the March presidential elections and that the opposition showed unprecedented unity to collect signatures and register the candidacy of the liberal Boris Nadezhdin could have precipitated the events.
«Why was Navalni killed now? They made it very clear to Putin that the only way to receive Krasikov is to exchange him for Navalny. ‘Oh, yes?’ Putin thought. I do not accept a Navalni in freedom. And if they are ready to exchange Krasikov, then we must get rid of the barter object,’ he noted.
Pevchij considers that Putin’s decision to abort the exchange is “irrational” and “the behavior of a crazy gangster”, guided by the personal “hatred” he had for the opposition leader.
“And Putin knows perfectly well that Alexei Navalny could have beaten him, that Navalny is the future and he is the past (…) Thanks to Navalny, Putin will go down in history as a coward, corrupt and thief,” he asserted.
Krasikov’s name was mentioned on several occasions by the American press in the possible exchange of Russian citizens for Americans such as Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in Russia to 16 years for espionage.
Furthermore, during the recent interview with the American journalist, Tucker Carlson, Putin alluded to a Russian “patriot”, in clear reference to Krasikov, as a possible object of exchange for ‘The Wall Street Journal’ journalist, Evan Gershkovich.
Burial with public farewell
Meanwhile, after the body was handed over to the family this Saturday, the opposition’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, announced that the funeral will take place this week in Moscow.
«We are looking for a space for Alexei’s public farewell at the end of this work week. If you have a suitable location, please contact us », he wrote in X.
According to the pro-government Telegram channel Shot, Navalny will be buried on February 29, coinciding with Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation address, at the Borisovo cemetery, southeast of Moscow.
Thousands of people are expected to attend Navalny’s farewell, something that the Kremlin fears will become a sign of popular rejection and discontent against Putin.
«The Kremlin has nothing to do with this. Naturally, the Kremlin cannot exert pressure. “This is one more absurd statement from his supporters,” presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference.
The official medical certificate states that Navalny died of “natural causes” in the “Polar Wolf” prison, a version that is rejected by the opposition’s followers, who accuse Putin of killing their leader, as does the widow, Yulia Naválnaya. EFE
#Navalnys #allies #accuse #Putin #killing #swap
