The Wife Calls The Late Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Should Be Part Of The Prisoner Exchange

Yulia Navalnaya. (Wikimedia Commons/European Parliament)

JAKARTA - Yulia Navalnaya said her late husband, who is the leader of Russia's opposition Alexei Navalny, should be part of the exchange of historic prisoners between Russia and the United States.

He said on Thursday he felt joy and bitterness at the Cold War-style prisoner swap that freed Russia's leading dissidents last week, nearly six months after Navalny died in the Arctic penal colony.

He said that if her husband was still alive, Navalny should be part of an agreement in which Russia handed over dissidents, along with US and German nationals, in exchange for Russian mercenaries convicted by Vadim Krasikov and other Russian citizens detained in Western prison.

Navalny's supporters said shortly after Navalny died on February 16, the opposition leader would be exchanged for Krasikov, a member of the Russian FSB security service who served a life sentence in Germany for killing a former Chechen fighter.

"At that time many people thought it was impossible, that we were making it up. But now everything is very clear," Navalnaya said in a YouTube video.

"(President Vladimir) Putin totally agreed to surrender political prisoners instead of spies and killers, and this happened. But not to Alexei," he continued.

In his video, Navalnaya celebrates the release of eight Russian dissidents on August 1, but says he also feels sad.

"I haven't felt any relief and happiness like this for a long time. However, at the same time I felt very, very sad," he said.

He said exchanges involving the US and Germany had shown Russia's opposition could engage with world leaders, who "have not given up on Russia".

He said at least 15 detainees were still being held on political charges, including TV technician Navalny, Daniel Kholodny, three lawyer Navalny, and politicians, activists, and other journalists.

Putin said he was willing to release Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption campaigner who had built a national movement banned on the basis of "extremism", on condition that he never returned to Russia.

The Kremlin has denied accusations that Navalny's family and supporters, who said President Putin had killed Navalny in prison because he could not stand to see him be released. Navalny's death certificate says the 47-year-old man died of natural causes.

Navalny's movement said it would provide evidence of the allegations, but had not yet published evidence.

Previously, Navalny, who survived the poisoning attempt in 2020, had experienced a harsh prison condition and spent a long time in an isolation cell.

Meanwhile, Oleg Orlov, a human rights activist among those released last week, said on Wednesday there had been talks about a possible continued exchange. However, he did not say who was involved in the discussion.

The prisoner exchange also resulted in the release of prominent dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, meaning all of the Kremlin's most prominent opponents are now based abroad.

It remains unclear how effective they are and the other fighting-like Russian opposition can be working together and what they can achieve, given Putin's full power.

Navalnaya said it would require enormous effort and sacrifice, but the release of the prisoners provided hope.

"Just a week ago they were in prison, locked behind an iron door. Now they are free people," he said.

"One day later, the same thing will happen to our country," said Navalnaya.