Admission that Navalny had been slated for exchange before his death mars elation at prisoner swap

Late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was originally supposed to be among the political prisoners freed by Russia in a deal brokered with the United States and several European countries earlier this year, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on Thursday.

Addressing reporters from the White House podium as US citizens Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva were flying back to the United States, a visibly moved Sullivan paused to hold back tears as he said that, nevertheless, “today was a very good day” and described the months of delicate diplomacy that led to the release of 16 political prisoners from Russian jails as “vintage Joe Biden”.

Close Navalny associate Leonid Volkov earlier described Thursday’s massive prisoner swap as “the very exchange within the framework of which — we had hoped — Alexey Navalny was to be released in February this year.”

However, Volkov continued, “Putin decided to ‘flip the board’, deciding that he would not give Navalny up for anything, and killed him just a couple of days before the exchange could take place.”

Navalny’s widow Yuliya Navalnaya called the news of so many political prisoners being freed “a great happiness” and described each release as “a huge victory and joy”, adding that nobody “should be held hostage by Putin, be tortured or die in Putin’s prisons.”

Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh told Russian opposition news agency Sirena that US Vice President Kamala Harris had called Navalnaya on Thursday ahead of the prisoner exchange. According to Yarmysh, Harris expressed her support for Navalnaya and noted her important contribution to the fight for a democratic Russia.

In response, Navalnaya thanked the United States for its help in organising the exchange and called on the international community to facilitate the release of the many political prisoners still in Russian jails.