Navalny was close to freedom at time of death

VLADIMIR PUTIN was close to setting Alexei Navalny free as part of a prisoner swap shortly before his death, a close ally of the slain Russian opposition leader has said.

The final stages of the proposed swap were being discussed on Feb 15, the day before Navalny died, Maria Pevchikh said in a statement on Youtube on Monday. But she claimed Putin had Navalny killed instead because he could not tolerate the thought of his only credible rival in Russian politics being set free.

Ms Pevchikh said talks centred on releasing Navalny and two unnamed US citizens in return for Vadim Krasikov, the “Berlin bicycle killer”, who was sentenced to life in prison in Germany for an assassination allegedly ordered by Moscow. “Alexei Navalny could be sitting in this seat right now, right today. That’s not a figure of speech, it could and should have happened,” Ms Pevchikh said in her video statement. “Navalny should have been out in the next few days because we got a decision about his exchange.”

Krasikov was jailed for killing a Chechen dissident in Berlin’s Tiergarten park in 2019. Ms Pevchikh did not name the two US citizens supposedly lined up for the swap. However, Moscow

is currently holding a US journalist and former US marine, who both strongly deny charges of espionage.

Putin suggested in his interview with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News presenter, that he wanted to swap Krasikov for Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal correspondent. Yesterday the Kremlin denied reports Navalny’s mother was given a choice between burying her son without a public funeral at three hours’ notice or having him buried on the grounds of the prison colony where he was killed.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, called it an “absurd statement by these [Navalny] supporters”.