Vladimir Putin breaks silence on Alexei Navalny's death and says he agreed to prisoner swap before death

The Russian president mentioned his strongest opposition by name for the first time in years
Jordan King18 March 2024

Vladimir Putin referred to Alexei Navalny by name for the first time in years and confirmed that he had agreed to allow a prisoner swap before his death.

The Russian leader addressed his people at a news conference after the polls closed in the presidential election, which has seen Putin win his fifth term with a record number of votes.

Putin said he had been ready to release Mr Navalny in a swap for unidentified inmates in Western custody, just days before the opposition leader's death.

Last month, reports came out that said talks to free Mr Navalny were in their “final stages” before the opposition leader was reported dead on February 16 in an Arctic penal.

Associate Maria Pevchikh, who lives outside Russia, said she had received confirmation about how far the talks had progressed the day before.

“Alexei Navalny could have been sitting here now, today. It's not a figure of speech,” she said in a video statement.

According to Ms Pevchikh, Mr Navalny and two US citizens held in Russia were supposed to be swapped for Vadim Krasikov.

He was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan "Tornike" Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.

She did not identify the US citizens who were supposedly part of the deal. Russia's Central Election Commission has confirmed that Putin won another term on Monday.

The results came after Putin unleashed the country's harshest crackdown on the opposition and free speech since Soviet times.

Only three token candidates - and no one who opposes his war in Ukraine - were allowed to run against Putin as he sought another six years in power.

Putin hailed overwhelming preliminary results as an indication of "trust" and "hope" in him - while critics saw them as another reflection of the preordained nature of the election.

A man shows a placard with a photo of opposition leader Alexey Navalny and reading "do not give up" as the queues with other voters near the polling station at the Russian embassy in Berlin
AP

He said at a meeting with his campaign staff after the polls closed: "Of course, we have lots of tasks ahead.

"But I want to make it clear for everyone: When we were consolidated, no one has ever managed to frighten us, to suppress our will and our self-conscience.

"They failed in the past and they will fail in the future."

Putin has led Russia as president or prime minister since December 1999, a tenure marked by international military aggression and an increasing intolerance for dissent.

Russia's Central Election Commission said that with nearly 100% of all precincts counted, Putin got 87.29% of the vote.

Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said that nearly 76 million voters cast their ballots for Putin, his highest vote tally ever.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un along with the presidents of Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela quickly congratulated Putin on his victory, as did the leaders of the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while the West dismissed the vote as a sham.

The UK's Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "This is not what free and fair elections look like."

In the tightly controlled environment, Mr Navalny's associates urged those unhappy with Putin or the war to go to the polls at noon on Sunday - and lines outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.

Among those heeding call was Yulia Navalnaya, Mr Navalny's widow, who spent more than five hours in the line at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

She told reporters that she wrote her late husband's name on her ballot.

Asked whether she had a message for Putin, Mrs Navalnaya replied: "Please stop asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr Putin.

"There could be no negotiations and nothing with Mr Putin, because he's a killer, he's a gangster."

But Putin brushed off the effectiveness of the apparent protest.

He said: “There were calls to come vote at noon and this was supposed to be a manifestation of opposition.

"Well, if there were calls to come vote, then... I praise this."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in