Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
The day before Alexei Navalny died (or, as his supporters say, was killed) in prison, he was close to being freed in an “humanitarian exchange” along with two US citizens, including WSJ’s journalist Evan Gershkovich, according to the chairwoman of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Maria Pevchikh. She said in a video address that negotiations involving American and German officials had lasted two years. A Russian citizen, Vadim Krasikov, found guilty of shooting a former Chechen rebel commander in Germany in 2019, was to have been part of the deal, but Vladimir Putin changed his mind late in the process because he “could not tolerate Navalny being free”, Pevchikh said; he decided to have Navalny killed in order to “just get rid of the bargaining chip”. More than a week since his death, his body has been released to his mother but he has yet to be buried.