Maria Pevchikh, head of Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), formerly headed by Alexei Navalny, has said that an agreement had been made to swap the opposition politician in a prisoner exchange before he ended up dying in prison.

Source: a video released by the ACF

Quote from Pevchikh: “Alexei Navalny could be sitting right here, right now. This is not a figure of speech; it could and should have happened. Navalny was supposed to be freed in the coming days. That’s because a decision had been made regarding his exchange.”

Details: Pevchikh noted that in early February, Russian President Vladimir Putin received a proposal to swap FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, an assassin serving a sentence for a murder in Berlin, for two US citizens imprisoned in Russia and Alexei Navalny.

“I received confirmation that the negotiations were ongoing and in their final stages on the evening of 15 February. Alexei was killed on 16 February,” Pevchikh said.

This story is developing, we’ll bring you the latest updates as they happen. 

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