The Wall Street Journal published the first part of the story on how the exchange for Alexei Navalny was prepared, who could not be saved — he was killed in a colony in Harp beyond the Arctic Circle. The article is adapted from the book «SWAP: The Secret History of the New Cold War» by the publication's journalists Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson and shows the complex process of preparing the exchange of the Russian politician for a Kremlin assassin.
The idea to save Russia's most famous dissident began to be implemented in July 2023 by investigative journalist Christo Grozev**, head of FBK's investigative department Maria Pevchikh***, and Canadian actress and director of the Oscar-winning documentary «Navalny», Odessa Rae.
Rae met in Monaco with Stanislav Petlinsky, a «security consultant» with military intelligence experience, who once worked in Vladimir Putin's administration and still had access to him. The plans of Navalny's friends and allies were based on Putin wanting to free one of his close associates from a prison in Germany — FSB killer Vadim Krasikov, serving a life sentence for the murder of Kremlin opponent Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in a Berlin park.
After the meeting via the encrypted messaging app Signal, Grozev, Pevchikh, and Rae began corresponding with Petlinsky to outline the terms of the exchange that would satisfy each side. He responded with messages, proposals, and names of prisoners. By August, they had prepared a draft of about 20 names — a deal more extensive and complex than any other in US-Russian history. Petlinsky received encouraging feedback in Moscow. But to advance the plan, he needed proof that the US government supported it. He wanted the President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to approach him with this proposal.
Meanwhile, Journal reporters received important information: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was ready to consider releasing Krasikov, especially if it meant Navalny and Gershkovich could be freed. For this, Germany needed the White House to make a request, which would be an important political cover.
Jake Sullivan was too cautious, believing that releasing a killer would be an unprecedented request to America's most important NATO ally. Additionally, the Biden administration was concerned that even considering this idea would prompt Putin to imprison even more Americans. Sullivan tried to explore other options, such as punishing Putin by expelling Russian hockey players from America, including NHL star Alexander Ovechkin.
Navalny's allies enlisted former «Green Beret» who helped free Americans held in Venezuela, Iran, and Afghanistan, Rogers Carstens, appointed during the first Trump administration as the President's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and then transitioned to work with Biden.
At the same time, the Biden administration tried to tightly control negotiations with Moscow due to the growing number of Americans imprisoned, effectively taken hostage in Russia. Among them were former Marine Paul Whelan and WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned on espionage charges.
As WSJ writes, efforts to save Navalny and American prisoners in Russia were undertaken at a pace that the White House could never control. Billionaires, famous journalists, spies, and even Hillary Clinton were involved in advancing the secret project «Silver Lake». Gershkovich's arrest led to the collective power of Rupert Murdoch and his media conglomerate stepping in: his family and executives reached out to world leaders, from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, asking for help to persuade Putin. Quiet diplomacy with the Biden administration was conducted by Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour.
It took seven months before Washington and Berlin were ready to proceed with the deal based on Rae's initial proposal, but as soon as they did, it was already too late. On February 16, 2024, Russian state media announced that Navalny had died in the «Polar Wolf» colony at the age of 47. Prison authorities informed his mother that the cause was «sudden death syndrome». However, the politician's allies and close ones, based on medical reports and documents, are convinced that Alexei Navalny was killed in the colony.
Debates continue about whether the US missed the chance to save Navalny or if efforts to free Navalny through secret channels inadvertently hastened his demise. One side believes he could have been exchanged if the Biden administration had acted faster, before he was sent to the Arctic colony in December 2023.
On the other hand, there is an alternative thesis shared by some senior American officials: the paranoid Russian president never intended to release his most popular opponent. Some negotiators wonder if efforts to free Navalny pushed Putin to make the fatal decision.
* Listed as a «terrorist and extremist».
** Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».
*** Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent», listed as a «terrorist and extremist».
Photo: Evgeny Feldman