NBC Reporter to Putin: ‘Mr. President, Is This What You Call Democracy?’

Simmons: “Mr. President, journalist Evan Gershkovich spent this election in prison. Boris Nadezhdin, who opposes your war in Ukraine, wasn’t allowed to stand against you. And Alexei Navalny died in one of your prisons during your campaign. Mr. President, is this what you call democracy?”

Putin (via translator): “That’s life. But Mr. Nadezhdin took part in this election campaign and this is, first of all, a result of his unsatisfactory work during the preparatory period. As for Mr. Navalny, he has perished, that is always a sad event. Well, we’ve had other instances where people died in prison. Has nothing like that ever happened in the United States? It has happened, and not just once. By the way, this will be unexpected, but several days before Mr. Navalny perished, I was told by some of my colleagues — not administration employees, but some people — that there’s an idea to exchange Mr. Navalny for some people in prison in Western countries.”