Reacting to the death of the nationalist opposition leader, which sparked a wave of condemnation in February, President Putin pointedly pointed out that: There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s life.”
Western leaders may have criticized Russia’s election, but President Vladimir Putin clearly felt emboldened by the vote and spoke out for the first time about the mysterious death of one of his most prominent critics. I chose this opportunity to comment publicly. In a late-night television interview following the vote that secured him another six years as president, Putin revealed that he had no sympathy for his former critics and insisted that prisoners too die. He repulsed the criticism. in an American prison.
Putin said, “Well, he died. This is always a sad event. But there have been other cases where people die in prisons… People die in American prisons, too… That happens. It happens. You can’t do anything about it. That’s life.”
Russian strongmen also said that before Mr. Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony, President Putin had agreed in principle to a prisoner swap in which Mr. Navalny would be released abroad in exchange for Russian prisoners held by Western countries. he claimed. He never returned to Russia. Putin said that a colleague from a non-governmental organization suggested a prisoner exchange, and claimed that he immediately agreed to the idea before his interlocutor had finished speaking.
Reflecting that this plan could not be realized as Navalny died in prison just “a few days” later, Putin said: “But unfortunately, whatever happened, what happened happened. ” he said. Putin did not say who he was considering replacing Navalny in the West. was previously claimed That would have been the case of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian assassin serving a life sentence for murder in a German prison.
Putin watchers noted that this was the first time in several years that Putin had mentioned Navalny by name, according to the Associated Press. said.
Russia claims Navalny died of “sudden death syndrome,” but his supporters say he was assassinated or at least banished to a brutal Arctic prison and sentenced to death. are doing. His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said her husband was killed by President Vladimir Putin and called on her supporters not to give up. Navalny had already been targeted with a nerve agent in 2020 and was nearly killed.
This is not the first time the Russian president has advocated for a putative prisoner swap to release Navalny to the West. Indeed, after Navalny’s death, allies said they were close to negotiating a swap, and it is claimed he was killed in prison to prevent it. Maria Pevchikh said in February: “Mr Navalny was supposed to be released within a few days, having secured the decision to exchange…I received confirmation on the evening of February 15th that negotiations were in the final stages.” “I received it,” he was reported to have said.
