Ukraine Agrees with Moscow: Navalny Wasn’t Murdered
The head of Ukrainian intelligence Kirill Budanov: “We know for sure that Navalny really died of a blood clot.” According to Navalny's associates, “the dissident was to be released and transferred to the West by the end of February in exchange for a Russian secret agent serving a life sentence in Germany”
Alexei Navalny has died of thrombosis, as Russian authorities have officially announced. The Russian opponent died on February 16 in a prison camp in northern Russia. The head of the Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency, Kirill Budanov, said in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper that absolutely reliable information available to Kiev refutes the hypothesis of an “assassination attempt” ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I can disappoint you,” Budanov said, “but we know for sure that Navalny did die of a blood clot.”
Without waiting for the results of the autopsy, the European Union and the United States immediately imposed new sanctions against Russia in response to the death of a political opponent, which are supposed to “punish” Russia for the “murder” of the dissident. Last Sunday, the G7 leaders also issued a joint statement demanding that the Russian government clarify the circumstances of Navalny’s death. Paradoxically, the answer to the appeal of the G7 came from Kiev.
Supposedly, Navalny’s death, which occurred weeks before Russia’s presidential election, was a major blow to Vladimir Putin, who was reportedly negotiating with the United States and Germany over the terms of sending Navalny to the West in exchange for a Russian secret agent.
Maria Pevchikh, a spokeswoman for Navalny’s FBK foundation, said, “Putin was very seriously considering releasing the dissident in exchange for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian agent serving a life sentence in Germany for responsibility in the murder of Georgian citizen and Chechen dissident Zemlyakhan Khangoshvili.” Pevchikh explained that Navalny “should have been released” by Putin by the end of February after his team “came to a decision on the exchange.” She said that on the evening of February 15, the day before Navalny’s death, she received confirmation that negotiations were already at an advanced stage.
The US also confirmed that it had sent an offer to Moscow for the release of Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, US citizens detained in Russia on espionage charges. The proposal was confirmed to journalists by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, who understandably did not wish to comment on Navalny’s inclusion in the proposal.