The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has mentioned Alexei Navalny’s name for the first time after his election victory on Monday, saying he agreed with the suggestion to let opposition leader Alexei Navalny go free in exchange for another prisoner. This happened just a few days before Navalny’s biggest enemy passed away.
In his first words about Navalny’s death, Putin said, “It happens. ” You can’t do anything about it. “It’s the way things are. ”
The comments were strange because he kept saying Navalny’s name, which he hasn’t done in years. They appeared at a late-night news conference while the results were coming in from a presidential election. The election extended his time as leader for six more years. The Kremlin stopped the opposition and weakened independent media.
Navalny’s friends said they were talking to Russian and Western officials about exchanging prisoners. The politician’s friend, Maria Pevchikh, said they were close to making a deal with Russia to exchange a person held in Germany for two Americans. This happened just before the politician died in a prison in the Arctic.
She said Putin wanted to harm Navalny without trading him, but she didn’t prove it, and others couldn’t check if it was true.
Putin said on Monday that a few days before Navalny died, some of his colleagues mentioned to him the idea of swapping Navalny for other people held in prisons in Western countries. He said he agreed with the idea, but did not provide any proof.
Putin said that the person he was talking to didn’t finish their sentence before he agreed with what they were saying, in response to a journalist’s question about Navalny’s death. He said the one thing he wanted was for Navalny to not go back to Russia.
“Unfortunately, whatever happened, has happened,” said Putin.
American officials said that Russia and the United States have not talked about exchanging Alexei Navalny for prisoners from the West.
Jake Sullivan, who is in charge of keeping our country safe, said that American officials have been talking to Russia for a long time about releasing American prisoners. But in all these conversations, the Russian officials have not mentioned the name of Alexey Navalny for a prisoner swap.
Navalny was a famous opposition leader in Russia. He died last month while in jail for charges he said were unfair. He was 47 years old. His friends, relatives, and officials from Western countries said that the Kremlin was responsible for the death, but the Kremlin has said it is not true.
The politician’s friends said that the officials wrote “natural causes” on the papers that Navalny’s mother was given when she was trying to get his body.
Navalny went to jail in January 2021 after he came back to Moscow from Germany, where he had been getting better from being poisoned. He said that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning. He got arrested right away. The Kremlin strongly denies that it was responsible for the poisoning.
Pevchikh said that there was a plan to trade Navalny and two Americans in Russia for Vadim Krasikov. He was in prison in Germany for the rest of his life because he killed a man named Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in Berlin in 2019. Khangoshvili was a 40-year-old man from Georgia with Chechen heritage. German judges said that Krasikov did what the Russian government told him to do.
She didn’t find out who the American citizens were that were supposed to be involved in the agreement. A few people are being held in Russia. One of them is Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He was arrested for spying. Another person in custody is Paul Whelan, who works in corporate security in Michigan. He was found guilty of spying and is now in prison for a long time. They disagree with the charges brought by the US government.
Sullivan said on Monday that the US is talking to important Russian people and has made some offers to get the two men released. “It’s very important to us to get the men out of Russia,” Sullivan said.
German officials did not say anything when asked if Russia tried to trade Krasikov.
Putin said that the Kremlin is willing to talk about Gershkovich. He showed a man who was put in jail in a country that is friends with the US for killing someone who had harmed Russian soldiers in a fight in Chechnya. Putin didn’t say any names but seemed to be talking about Krasikov.
Tag: Navalny
-
Putin mentions Navalny’s name for the first time after election victory
-
Russians to face more sanctions from Canada over the death of Navalny
Canada’s foreign affairs minister has said that they will impose more penalties on the Russian government. This is because of the recent death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Russia’s ongoing violations of human rights.
Melanie Joly said that on Sunday, six Russian government officials and workers in their legal system will be punished. The statement says they were part of hurting Navalny, punishing him in a mean way, and causing his death.
Navalny, who is 47 years old, was widely seen as the biggest enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine and said that Putin was responsible for Navalny’s death. Navalny died suddenly in a prison in the Arctic where he was serving a long sentence.
The Kremlin said that accusations about Putin being involved in Navalny’s death are not true and are disrespectful.
Joly is asking Russia to investigate Navalny’s death carefully and openly. She sees Navalny as a person who gave hope to the Russian people and spoke up for freedom, fairness, democracy, and a better future for Russia.
Canada said they will take actions against another country on February. 23 Russian officials and businessmen and 153 companies were punished, along with the United States and the United Kingdom. -
Navalny’s mother plants flowers on his grave day after funeral in Moscow
The mother and mother-in-law of Alexei Navalny, a critic of the Russian government, visited his burial site in Moscow on Saturday.They brought flowers to honor him. This comes after thousands of people attended his funeral, showing their disagreement with the government.
The police were at the cemetery, but everything was peaceful, according to Russian TV channel Dozhd (Rain).
The police allowed people to say goodbye to the politician without hurrying them. This was reported on the Telegram messaging app by one of the outlet’s readers at the scene.
Dozhd said that people made memorials for Navalny and they were destroyed in many Russian cities. Flowers were taken out of cities, like St. Petersburg and Voronezh were mentioned.
Thousands of people said goodbye to Navalny on Friday. He died two weeks ago in a prison, but we still don’t know how. The police were watching closely. Many people gathered to support Navalny outside a church and cemetery in a snowy area near the capital. They cheered for Navalny and against President Putin and the war in Ukraine.
The police didn’t do anything to them, but at least 106 people were taken by the police at events in Russia to remember Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a group that follows political arrests. It said that many people were not allowed to put flowers at monuments for the people who were hurt by the Soviet government.
Navalny was laid to rest after a quick Russian Orthodox service, with lots of people waiting outside the church and then going to the new grave with flowers.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, did not attend the funeral. She promised to keep doing his work and thanked him lovingly for “26 years of complete happiness. ”
The funeral happened after a fight with officials about letting his body go. His team said that many churches in Moscow didn’t want to have the funeral for the man who fought against corruption and arranged big protests. Many Western leaders said the Russian leader was responsible for the death, but the Kremlin said it wasn’t true and got mad. -
Navalny buried by family and supporters after he passed away in custody
Many people offered their final farewells to Alexei Navalny at his funeral in Moscow. Alexei Navalny died two weeks ago in a prison, and the cause of his death is still unknown. The funeral had a lot of police there to keep things safe.
The service happened after a struggle with officials to release the body of President Vladimir Putin’s strongest critic. His friends said that many churches in Moscow didn’t want to do the funeral for the man who fought against corruption and organized big protests. Western leaders said the Russian leader was responsible for the death, but the Kremlin denied this angrily.
Navalny’s team finally got approval from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, which was surrounded by barriers on Friday.
As the box with his body was brought out of the car and carried into the church, the people outside clapped and said his name. Some also yelled, “You were brave and so are we. ” and later “We don’t want war. ”
American and other Western diplomats Ambassador Lynn Tracy and some presidential candidates, Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova, went to the event. Both of them wanted to compete with Putin in the next election and disagreed with his war in Ukraine. But neither of them were allowed to be on the ballot.
A picture inside the church showed Navalny’s body in an open casket with red and white flowers on top, and his mother sitting next to it holding a candle.
Navalny’s dad was there too, but it was not known if anyone else from his family was there. His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France two days ago. His daughter is studying at Stanford University, and we don’t know where his son is.
The politician’s friends left Russia because they were under pressure. They watched his funeral online from a different country.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned people in Moscow and other places not to do anything illegal, because large gatherings without permission are against the law.
“Nadezhda Ivanova, who lives in Kaliningrad, said that people who pay attention to current events can see that this man is a hero of our country. We won’t forget him. ” “Everything that happened to him is really hard to understand and deal with. ”
After the quick funeral, a large group of people walked from the church to the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery. The police were also there in big numbers for the burial.
Navalny’s parents and others touched and kissed his body while the casket was open. At the same time, many people who support the person who passed away came to the cemetery. They were shouting, “We want to come in and say goodbye. ”
They put the coffin in the ground, allies said.
Navalny’s mom, Lyudmila Navalnaya, spent eight days asking officials to let her have her son’s body after he died in February. 16 people died at a prison camp. In a town called Kharp, in a place called Yamalo-Nenets region, which is about 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
Even on Friday, the place where the body was being kept took a long time to let it go, according to Ivan Zhdanov, who is a close friend of Navalny and is in charge of his Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The police said they couldn’t give back the body because they needed to do some tests on it after the person had died. Navalnaya asked Putin to let her bury her son properly and with respect, in a video.
One person in charge of funerals said he was not allowed to help Navalny’s supporters, according to Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh on social media. They had a hard time finding a car to carry the coffin.
Yarmysh said that people we don’t know are calling and threatening others not to move Alexei’s body.The Russian government has not said why Navalny, who was 47, died.
Navalny went to jail in January 2021 after coming back to Moscow from Germany, where he was getting better from being poisoned with a nerve agent that he said the Kremlin did.
The Russian government said his Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his offices in different areas were “extremist organizations” that year.
His wife said that Putin and the Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, tried to stop a public funeral.
“We just want people to have the chance to say goodbye to Alexei in a regular way. No special treatment needed,” Yulia Navalnaya wrote on the platform previously known as Twitter. In a talk to European lawmakers on Wednesday, she also said she was worried that the police might interrupt the gathering or would “arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband. ”
The government in Moscow said no to holding a special event to remember Navalny and Boris Nemtsov because of COVID-19 rules. This was announced by politician Yekaterina Duntsova. Nemtsov, who used to be a deputy prime minister, was killed while walking on a bridge near the Kremlin on the night of February. He was 55 years old. 27th of May, 2015.
Yarmysh requested that people who support Navalny put flowers in his memory on Friday.
Yarmysh said on Thursday that everyone who knew Alexei said he was a happy, brave, and truthful person. “But the real truth is that even if you didn’t meet Alexei, you still knew what kind of person he was. ” You helped with his investigations, you joined him at rallies, and you read his posts while he was in prison. His behavior taught a lot of people how to act even when things were frightening and hard. -
Navalny was to be released in prisoner swap before his death – Ally
Alexei Navalny was supposed to be released in exchange for another prisoner when he died, as said by his friend Maria Pevchikh.
She said the Russian opposition leader was going to be traded for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian hitman who is in prison for life in Germany.
Two Americans in Russia were also going to be included in the agreement, according to Ms.
She said that talks will be finished on February 15th.
The day after, Mr Navalny passed away in his prison cell in Siberia. He was serving a 19-year sentence for charges that many people believed were brought against him for political reasons. The 47-year-old got sick after going for a walk, according to prison officials.
In a video on Mr. Navalny’s YouTube channel, Ms. Pevchikh, who leads his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), said they had been talking about exchanging prisoners for two years. She said that when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it was clear that Putin would do anything. She also said that Mr. Navalny needed to be released from jail no matter what and right away.
Ms Pevchik said Mr. Navalny was going to be released because of a humanitarian swap, and American and German officials were part of the negotiations.
She said they finally made a solid plan to exchange prisoners in December.
Vadim Krasikov, a Russian man, was found guilty of shooting a former Chechen rebel leader in the head in Germany in 2019. He was going to be included in the agreement.
Two people from the US who are currently being detained in Russia are also going to be traded, Ms. Pevchikh said, but she did not say who they are.
In February, President Putin said he was talking to the US about releasing American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is in jail for spying.
President Putin suggested that Russia would welcome a person who, for patriotic reasons, killed a criminal in a European city during the conflicts in the Caucasus. This almost certainly refers to Krasikov.
Ms Pevchikh says that Russian President Vladimir Putin changed his decision about the deal at the very end. She said he didn’t want Navalny to be free. Since there was a tentative agreement for Krasikov’s release, Mr Putin decided to get rid of the bargaining chip and offer someone else instead.
“Ms Pevchikh said that Putin hates Navalny very much. ” “He knows that Navalny could have beaten him. ”
President Putin used to work for the KGB. He often says he will do something, but then does the opposite.
He and his government have been following this policy for almost 25 years.
Before Russia attacked Ukraine, President Putin and some Russian officials kept saying they did not plan to invade the country.
We don’t know what happened to Navalny in prison, but the Kremlin has a history of pretending to negotiate for someone’s release without actually planning to let them go.
Ms Pevchikh’s video got hundreds of thousands of views within an hour of being published.
The Kremlin has not responded yet to the claims made by Ms Pevchikh. President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said before that the accusations of government involvement in Navalny’s death are “ridiculous”.
At first, the authorities didn’t want to give Navalny’s body to his mother. They finally agreed to do so eight days after he died.
On Monday, Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmish wrote on social media that his friends are searching for a place where people can gather to say goodbye to him later this week.
The government will keep a close watch on this event, if it’s allowed to happen.
A group that protects people’s rights said that 400 Russians were arrested all over the country for putting flowers to honor Navalny after he died. -
Mother of Navalny still looking for his body
Alexei Navalny’s friends and family, including his mother, are in a faraway Russian town called Salekhard today. They are not too far from the Arctic prison where he passed away.
They are trying to find his body, but his spokeswoman says they are having a hard time.
Kira Yarmysh posted on X.
His lawyer tried to go into the building where the dead bodies are kept, but the workers there made him leave. They wouldn’t tell him where the body was.
She says Russian officials have told lawyers that they are continuing to look into his death for a longer time.
Yarmysh says that they are dishonest and only care about themselves, and they don’t even try to hide it. -
Wife of Alexei Navalny claims “Putin killed Her husband”
Putin is being blamed for the death of Alexei by Alexei Navalny’s wife.
Alexei Navalny’s wife made a video saying that she thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is the reason her husband died.
She said: “Hello. I am Yulia Navalnaya, someone else should be here instead of me. “”But that person was murdered by Vladimir Putin. “
Russian officials said that the politician from the opposing party passed away in jail on Friday. The strong opponent of President Vladimir Putin was put in jail in 2021 for reasons believed to be unfair and driven by politics.More update on this story soon.
-
“I’m not sure whether to believe the news” – Wife of Navalny
Navalny’s wife said she’s not sure if she should believe the terrible news or not.
Yulia Navalnaya said she only heard about her husband’s death from government sources while speaking at the Munich Security Conference.
She says we can’t trust Putin and his government.
Then she says that if her husband really died, Putin and his friends should be held personally responsible for it and everything “they are doing to Russia”.
“I want everyone here to come together and support punishing the Russian government,” Navalnaya says. -
Putin’ should be answerable’ for Navalny’s demise – David Cameron
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Vladimir Putin should be responsible for Alexei Navalny’s death. He did not say what consequences the Kremlin should face.
During the Munich Security Conference, Cameron said that Navalny is very brave for fighting against corruption. He gave up everything for what he believed in.
Cameron thinks there should be no question about how bad Putin’s government is in Russia after what just happened.More update on this story soon