network revealed”CNNThe American newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said that an international prisoner exchange operation would have led to the release of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, noting that it had been under discussion before his death in prison last month.
According to CNN sources, work on this deal has been taking place since 2022, with the participation of the famous Russian businessman, Roman Abramovich, and Hillary Clinton, who previously served as US Secretary of State during the term of former President Barack Obama, the first among them. Years 2009 and 2013.
Navalny, one of the fiercest opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died last February 16, at the age of 47, in a prison complex in the Arctic, where he was serving a sentence for 19 years, after being convicted of “extremism.”
The idea dates back to the summer of 2022, when Christo Grozev, who worked with Navalny’s team for several years, met Clinton at an event in the United States.
According to a person familiar with the meeting, “Clinton told Grozev that she followed up on his work with Navalny, which included revealing the identities of the FSB team that poisoned Navalny.”
The former lawyer and anti-corruption activist was the victim of a poisoning in 2020 that he attributed to the Kremlin, which denied its involvement.
Upon his return to Russia in January 2021 after a period of recovery in Germany, he was arrested and imprisoned, while his anti-corruption organization was closed on charges of “extremism.”
Grozev told CNN that Clinton “agreed to communicate with officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden about the idea of exchanging Navalny for a Russian linked to the Federal Security Service, who was convicted of committing a murder in Berlin.”
Grozev added that Clinton “initially conveyed the message” to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. CNN reported that the National Security Council declined to comment.
For her part, Maria Pevchikh, one of Navalny’s main aides, said, “In early February, Putin was offered to exchange Vadim Krasikov, the killer and FSB officer who is serving a prison sentence for murder in Berlin, for two American citizens and Navalny.”
Last month, Putin proposed the idea of securing the release of a Russian person who “loves his homeland,” and who he said was serving a life sentence for “liquidating a bandit” in Europe.
In his conversation with the American broadcaster, Tucker Carlson, in Moscow last month, Putin indicated that the deal would be in exchange for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich, who is accused of spying in Russia.
The final framework of the proposed deal was not clear, but a person close to Navalny’s team said that the expanded proposal included “the possible release of both Gershkovitch and another American imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan, in addition to Navalny.”
One Western diplomat told CNN last week that on a scale of 1 to 10, the odds of the deal’s success were “at 7 or 8” by the time Navalny died.
The Russians had initially proposed exchanging a German-Russian citizen detained in Russia on espionage charges for Krasikov, an offer that the Germans flatly rejected.
“The German government was very serious about this,” a Western diplomat told the American news network, anonymously, last week.
But the diplomat added that the Russians were unlikely to agree to swap 3 important prisoners – Navalny, Gershkovitch and Whelan – for one – Krasikov – and they wanted to expand the deal.
Among the ideas proposed for the deal was to include Sergei Vladimirovich Cherkasov, an alleged Russian spy who has been accused by the US Department of Justice of fraud and other crimes, and who is being held in Brazil. The Brazilian authorities rejected Russian and American extradition requests.
The person close to Navalny’s team told CNN, “Delivering the message to Putin was one of the biggest challenges.” But this complex operation involved the Russian billionaire, Abramovich, who is subject to Western sanctions, as the network reported.
Abramovich, who spends most of his time in the UAE, according to CNN, met with an American official at a time when ideas were crystallized for a complex exchange involving up to seven people, according to a source close to the process.
Abramovich has maintained contact with the Kremlin since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was instrumental in early efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.
A source familiar with Abramovich’s movements said that he “traveled to Moscow to meet with officials in the Kremlin, where Navalny’s team received a message stating that the proposal would be delivered to Putin on February 15, that is, one day before his death,” adding that the billionaire “felt surprised” when he heard that Navalny had died. Even while he was following the exchange.
However, the proposal was still in an informal stage, according to several sources familiar with the process, and “it did not appear that a deal was imminent,” according to CNN.
But the Western diplomat said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the odds of an exchange “had reached 7 or 8” by the time Navalny died.