Aides to Alexei A. Navalny claimed on Monday that the Russian opposition leader was on the verge of being released in a prisoner swap with the West before he died earlier this month.
Western officials were in advanced talks with the Kremlin about a deal that would release Mr. Navalny along with two Americans in a Russian prison, a top aide to the dead opposition leader, Maria Pevchih, said in a video released on the Navalny group’s channel in YouTube. .
As part of that deal, Ms. Pevchikh said, Germany would have released Vadim Krasikov, the man convicted of killing a former Chechen separatist in a Berlin park in 2019. Mr. Putin praised Mr. Krasikov in the interview of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson this month, describing the convicted killer as motivated by “patriotic feelings.”
Ms Pevchikh’s claims of a pending deal could not be independently confirmed. There was no immediate comment from any of the parties allegedly involved in the trade described by Ms Pevchikh. A Kremlin spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
“Navalny was supposed to be free in the next few days,” Ms. Pevchih, the president of Mr. Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said in the video. “I received confirmation that negotiations were in the final stages on the evening of February 15.”
American officials had acknowledged that German officials wanted Mr. Navalny to be released in any deal that would free Mr. Krasikov, although they did not indicate that a deal was imminent. A spokeswoman for the German government declined to comment when asked about the Navalny group’s claims at a news conference on Monday.
Mr. Navalny himself did not know the details of the talks, but he was aware that his possible release through a prisoner exchange was being discussed, according to his spokeswoman, Kira Jarmis.
“He understood there were some conversations going on but he didn’t know the details,” Ms Yarmysh said in a text message.
Mr Navalny died on February 16 in a penal colony in the Arctic, according to Russian authorities. The medical report on his death says he died of natural causes, according to Navalny’s aides.
But Ms. Pevchikh claimed in her video that President Vladimir V. Putin had ordered Mr. Navalny’s murder. The reason, he claimed, was that the West was insisting on Mr Navalny’s release as part of any deal to free Mr Krashikov, whom Western officials describe as a Russian intelligence agent. By killing Mr. Navalny, he said, Mr. Putin took the possibility of a release off the table and planned to “offer someone else when the time comes” to bring Mr. Krasikov home.
Ms Pevchikh said Russian business tycoon Roman Abramovich acted as a mediator in Western talks with Mr Putin over a possible prisoner swap to secure Mr Navalny’s freedom. A spokeswoman for Mr. Abramovich did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Pevchikh did not identify the two Americans she said would have been exchanged with Mr. Navalny. At least two Americans behind bars in Russia have been labeled “wrongfully detained” by the State Department: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkowitz and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive and former Marine.
The new claims by Navalny’s team came as plans for Mr Navalny’s burial remained unclear. Ms Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, posted on social media on Monday asking for help to line up a funeral parlor for a service later this week.
“We are looking for a room for a public farewell to Alexei,” Mrs. Yarmysh He wrote. “Time: end of this work week. If you have suitable facilities, please contact us.”
Ms Yarmysh said on Saturday that Mr Navalny’s body had been released to his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, after a days-long dispute with authorities over custody of his remains.
Mr Navalny’s aides say the Kremlin has sought to prevent his funeral from turning into a public event that could attract thousands of mourners. Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov, denied that the Kremlin was involved.
“This is absolutely not our issue and our prerogative,” Mr Peskov told reporters on Monday. “The head of state does not regulate these matters in any way.”
Julian E. Barnes contributed reporting from Washington and Erica Solomon from Berlin.
