Well isn't it obvious? Cui bono.

Think about it: Putin's interview with Tucker Carlson placed him in a different light vis-a-vis the West. It already has a billion views. And in it, Putin had spilled the beans about the origin of the war and the fact that a peace deal had been on the table in March 2022. His interview was making Western leaders look bad, and making Putin himself seem more sympathetic.

And that could could not be allowed to stand.

Moreover Avdeevka had fallen and the front was collapsing - nothing but bad news coming out of the Ukraine.

A distration was sorely needed.

And so, on the very first day of the Munich Security Conference, the news came that Navalny was dead. Instantly, the Western powers blamed Putin, who once more became the evil thug, the "killer", the Russian monster.

And Navalny's wife was already at the event, slotted in to speak and deliver a maudlin homage to her dead husband. A husband whom she had not seen for two years prior to her visit to the prison on Valentine's Day. Which was strange, since she was already known to be with a new boyfriend.

One can only wonder what they discussed.