A close ally of recently deceased Alexei Navalny, Maria Pevchikh, claimed Monday that the Russian dissident was just days away from being freed in a prisoner exchange. Pevchikh said that an agreement had been reached, offering Navalny and two American citizens in exchange for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who is currently in prison in Germany for murder.

According to Pevchikh, the details of the exchange were being finalized on the eve of Navalny’s death. She said the plan had taken over two years to implement and had received approval in the Spring of 2023 but had been hampered by a lack of political will. In December, the plan received the final go-ahead, and Pevchikh stated that the evidence was there to be seen, including a Wall Street Journal article and other publications. She says she learned that Roman Abramovich was the one who brought the idea of an exchange to Putin as an informal negotiator, although he was unwilling to answer the questions she put to him. She alleges that Putin wanted to facilitate the release of Krasikov but could not tolerate the idea of Navalny’s liberation. Consequently, she claims that Putin orchestrated Navalny’s murder in the hope of a potential future exchange of Krasikov for another prisoner. She suggests that Putin had been driven mad by hatred for Navalny.

Navalny was facing a range of charges relating to “extremist activities” and had been imprisoned since 2021. Following his disappearance within the penal system, he had been held in custody in the so-called “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony since December. On February 16, it was announced by authorities at the prison that he had died in custody, sparking international outrage and rallies across Russia. According to allies, Navalny’s body is being withheld from his mother unless she agrees to a secret burial.