#EVAN GERSHKOVITCH

L-R: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Vadim Krasikov. Photos: Mitya Aleshkovsky, Flickr/Aleshru; Presidential Executive Office of Russia, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; @JeffNadu/X

Navalny was close to being freed in prisoner swap between Russia, West, claims ally

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his death, but Vladimir Putin could not tolerate the thought of him being released and had him killed, a close ally said on Monday.