Shortly before his death, Alexei Navalny's team was negotiating about his exchange. This was stated by Maria Pevchikh, an associate of the politician, in a video message.
According to her, an agreement was discussed to exchange Navalny and two US citizens for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a sentence for murder in Berlin.
"I received confirmation that the negotiations were ongoing and in the final stages on the evening of February 15. On February 16, Alexei was killed," Pevchikh said.
She added that the idea of a "humanitarian exchange," in which spies are exchanged for political prisoners, came to the politician's team two years ago.
As a reminder, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a colony on February 16, 2024.