Harris praises Navalny's legacy in call with widow following exchange

Kamala Harris had a phone conversation with Julia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The conversation took place on Thursday, following a successful exchange of political prisoners.

The Vice President of the United States expressed her gratitude for Navalny and his wife's struggle for a "democratic Russia" and wanted to offer her support to the widow of the late oppositionist. Navalnaya's spokesperson shared information about the phone conversation on the X platform.

The White House confirmed earlier on the same day that it had been making efforts to secure the release of Navalny, who died on February 16 in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle.

Among the people who regained their freedom as a result of the prisoner exchange were three activists who led Navalny's campaign teams in various regions of Russia. They are: Lilia Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin, and Ksenia Fadeeva.

Alexei Navalny, in recent years, had been the undisputed, albeit informal, leader of the Russian opposition. He was a well-known critic of Kremlin policies, a member of the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The foundation, among other things, revealed the assets of President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning from Germany, where he was being treated following an unsuccessful poisoning attempt, likely carried out by Russian special services. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for alleged financial crimes.

On Thursday in Ankara, a prisoner exchange occurred between the West and Russia. As a result of this exchange, 26 people were released on both sides, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian oppositionist who also holds British citizenship; Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who holds citizenships of the USA, Canada, the UK, and Ireland; and "Wall Street Journal" journalist Evan Gershkovich.