US journalist Evan Gershkovich and others released by Russia in biggest prisoner swap since cold war

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, ex-US Marine Paul Whelan and two dozen detainees from the United States, Russia and a number of their allies were released on Thursday as part of the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.

The exchange, which took place at Turkey’s Ankara airport on Thursday afternoon, involved eight Russians held in the West returning to Russia. The White House announced that the US had orchestrated the intricate prisoner swap with Russia and other countries. It confirmed that eight prisoners held in Western nations were being returned to Russia. Germany verified that among them was Vadim Krasikov, the Russian assassin who has been imprisoned in Germany since 2019 for murdering a Chechen exile in Berlin.

Additionally, deep-cover Russian “illegal” spies arrested in Norway and Slovenia were swapped, alongside Russians held on criminal charges in US jails. Two minors, believed to be the children of the spies jailed in Slovenia, were also returned to Russia.

“Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,” Biden said in a statement.

Hazy video footage showed a Russian government plane landing at the airport in the Turkish capital before the swap. The Turkish presidency announced that 10 prisoners, including two minors, were relocated to Russia, 13 were transferred to Germany, and three went to the US.

WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker posted an open letter on the X platform, stating: “Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit.”

Among those freed by Russia were Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, according to the Turkish presidency.

Commenting on the exchange, the Kremlin expressed hope that those leaving Russian jails, whom it described as “enemies”, would stay abroad. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the state-run Tass as saying, “I believe that all our enemies should stay there [abroad], and all those who are not our enemies should return. That’s my point of view.”

Gershkovich, who was arrested in March 2023 while reporting from Ekaterinburg was sentenced last month to 16 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty, and both the Wall Street Journal and the US government have dismissed the charges as baseless.

Whelan and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident, both jailed in Russia, had recently vanished from sight, according to their lawyers. At least seven Russian dissidents had been unexpectedly transferred from their prisons.

Whelan, sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020, has always maintained his innocence, and his family has been advocating for his inclusion in an exchange for years. Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was also freed.

Kurmasheva was arrested by Russian authorities in 2023 for not registering as a foreign agent. Kara-Murza was serving a 25-year sentence for his outspoken criticism of the war in Ukraine.

RIA also reported that four Russians imprisoned in the US had disappeared from the Federal Bureau of Prisons database. The individuals named were Vinnik, Maxim Marchenko, Vadim Konoshchenok, and Vladislav Klyushin.

Dissidents in Russia, who have been reported as recently moved, include human rights activist Oleg Orlov and Daniil Krinari, convicted of covertly working with foreign governments. In the West, these dissidents are regarded as wrongfully detained political prisoners, though Moscow has labelled them as dangerous extremists.

On Wednesday, a Slovenian court sentenced two Russians to time served for espionage and using fake identities and announced they would be deported, according to state news agency STA. This action was reported by a Slovenian TV channel as part of the broader exchange.

Until today, the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War occurred in 2010, involving 14 individuals. In December 2022, Russia traded basketball star Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years for having cannabis oil in her luggage, for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US.