Head of the investigative project Bellingcat, Christo Grozev, in an interview with writer Mikhail Zygar, discussed the circumstances of Alexei Navalny's death, details of the exchange involving the politician for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, as well as the possibility that killings of Putin's opponents may continue.
Grozev believes that Navalny was poisoned with a "conditional 'Novichok,'" similar to what happened in 2020.
"Because otherwise, it would be another unfinished 'Novichok' killing, which they have invested so many years and so much money in that leaving it unfinished is not an option," he said.
The journalist clarifies that his assumption is analytical, as it is currently not possible to draw a definitive conclusion based on the available data.
Grozev is confident that soon he and the FBK team will be able to identify those responsible for Navalny's death.
"The behavior of the authorities indicates that they have something to hide. The behavior of the authorities indicates fear, apprehension. And I think we will soon find the cause of this fear," the investigator says.
According to Grozev, after the exchange, Navalny was supposed to become "the loudest opponent of the war." Negotiations for his exchange for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov began about two years ago.
Grozev, along with Maria Pevchikh, decided to secure Alexei's release because they feared that after the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities "crossed all the red lines" and could end the attempt on Navalny.
"Alexei was supposed to become the loudest and most visible opponent of the war in order to end it as soon as possible. We believed, he could do this better out of prison than in prison," he said.
From the very beginning, Grozev understood that for Putin, Krasikov was "the most valuable of all spies." According to the investigator, negotiations for the exchange involved many countries. On one hand, Russia had to release U.S. citizens, including WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, and political prisoners. To secure their release, an equal number of Russian citizens who were imprisoned in Western jails for espionage or murder needed to be found. Grozev took on this task himself.
"We created a kind of list for the exchange. We really hoped it would become the list for a real deal. And the optimism was very high the day before the murder. But the next morning we learned this sad news," the investigator continues.
He speculates that Putin knew about the exchange plan. Perhaps Roman Abramovich told him about it, as Abramovich was also involved in the negotiation process. When Grozev watched Putin's interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, he looked at the Russian president and thought, "How angry he must be that he was brazenly offered Alexei Navalny in exchange for Krasikov."
During this interview, Putin suggested exchanging Evan Gershkovich, a journalist, for Krasikov, but Germany continued to insist that Navalny should be involved in the exchange.
Additionally, one of the investigator's sources, after the opposition figure's death, told him that this was "not the last incident."
"I don't want to make predictions, but I'm really afraid that Putin's motivation was to prove to the West, through this murder, that he no longer has any red lines, and thus force negotiations on Ukraine on his terms," Grozev explains.
In his opinion, a period will now begin that will be "a series of terrible dramas." He stressed that "it's better to be prepared for the worst-case scenario and do everything to prevent it from happening than to wear rose-colored glasses."
