Vladimir Putin was open to releasing Alexey Navalny, the Russian leader’s fiercest critic and political rival whose unexpected death in an Arctic penal colony sparked international backlash, as part of Thursday’s historic prisoner swap, according to The Wall Street Journal.
US officials announced on Thursday the release of three American citizens and a Russian dissident who holds a US green card: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, US Marine Paul Whelan, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian dissident and Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post contributing columnist.
In total, Russia released 16 prisoners in exchange for eight prisoners held by the West, including Vadim Krasikov, a hitman who was convicted of assassinating a Chechen rebel in broad daylight, as the centerpiece of the deal for Russia.
The swap represents the largest exchange in post-Soviet history, The Associated Press reported.
Months before the prisoner swap, the West had also sought to include Navalny, Putin’s political opponent who was serving a 19-year sentence in a Russian prison camp.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in a White House press briefing that the US had been “working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexey Navalny.”
“And unfortunately, he died,” Sullivan said. “In fact, on the very day that he died, I saw Evan’s parents, and I told them that the president was determined to get this done even in light of that tragic news and that we were going to work day and night to get to this day.”
According to the Journal, Putin was receptive to the idea of a prisoner swap that would release Navalny after a conversation between Roger Carstens, a US diplomat and special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is widely viewed as Putin’s backchannel to the West. The meeting, according to the report, took place in Tel Aviv after the Hamas attacks on October 7.
The White House and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Members of Navalny’s circle were thrilled to hear about Navalny’s potential release but also feared that Putin may decide to kill him at the last minute, the Journal reported.
On February 16, the prospect of Navalny’s release was ended. Russian officials announced that Navalny had died while imprisoned at the age of 47.
The Kremlin has since denied any responsibility for his sudden death. Biden put the blame for Navalny’s death squarely on Putin.
