The United States and Russia on Thursday completed their largest prisoner exchange since the collapse of the Soviet Union, releasing two dozen individuals.
American journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow citizen Paul Whelan were freed by Moscow, along with Russian dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza. In return, Russia secured the release of its nationals convicted of crimes in the West.
The trade followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The latest swap of 24 prisoners surpassed a deal involving 14 people that was struck in 2010. In that exchange, Washington freed 10 Russians living in the US as sleepers, while Moscow deported four Russians living in their homeland, including Sergei Skripal, a double agent working with British intelligence. He and his daughter in 2018 were nearly killed by nerve agent poisoning blamed on Russian agents.
Americans Released In Prisoner Swap
Russia has released several individuals, including US citizens and dissidents, as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. Those released by Russia include:
- Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was convicted of espionage charges in July, which he and the US denied
- Paul Whelan, a US citizen and corporate security executive who has been jailed since 2018 on espionage charges, which he and the US have denied
- Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist who was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, a charge her family and employer have rejected
The dissidents released included Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated, 11 political prisoners being held in Russia, including associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and a German national arrested in Belarus.
Russians Released In Prisoner Swap
The United States released the following individuals as part of the prisoner swap:
- Vadim Krasikov, a Russian national convicted in Germany in 2021 for killing a former Chechen rebel in Berlin
- Two alleged Russian sleeper agents jailed in Slovenia
- Roman Seleznev, a convicted computer hacker and son of a Russian lawmaker
- Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence operative accused of providing American-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military
- An academic arrested in Norway on suspicions of being a Russian spy and a man detained in Poland
