Navalny was part of prisoner exchange talks, the White House
White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said on August 1 that the United States had been working on a prisoner exchange to include Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny prior to his death.
"We worked with our partners on an agreement that would have included Aleksei Navalnyi. And unfortunately, he died," Jake Sullivan said at a White House press conference.
At the end of February, shortly after the death of the politician, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (recognized in Russia as an extremist organization in June 2021 and banned) publicly announced that negotiations were underway for his exchange. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that negotiations had taken place regarding Navalny's exchange: he said he was ready to hand over the jailed opposition leader to the West, "provided he never returns."
The Anticorruption Foundation insists that the politician was killed in the colony precisely so that he could not be replaced.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, also reacted to the prisoner swap, saying it was a "joy" to see almost a dozen Russian activists and opposition politicians freed, RFE reports.
"Every released political prisoner is a huge victory and a reason to celebrate," Navalnaya said on X, adding those released had been "saved from Putin's regime."
The exchange comes after days of speculation about a major swap between various countries, which increased after several dissidents and journalists jailed in Russia were moved from their prison cells to unknown locations, BBC reports.
Although secret prison transfers are common in Russia, the multiple disappearances of well-known prisoners was unusual. The last high-profile prisoner swap took place in December 2022, when US basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been held in an American prison for 12 years.
