Maximum prisoner exchange between Russia, Belarus and several Western countries, including the United States. Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in Russia, was released today, Thursday, August 1. Former US Marine Paul Whelan was also released with him. The exchange in Ankara involved 26 people, two of whom were minors. The 26 people included Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is not a US citizen but resides in the US.
The best known of those released is probably WSJ journalist Gershkovich, who was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in maximum security prison. According to Russian intelligence, the journalist acted “on the instructions of the American side” to obtain “information covered by state secrecy about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
The triumph of friendship and diplomacy
“Their cruel ordeal is over and they are free,” US President Joe Biden said, adding that the former prisoners had left Russia and returned home. Biden described the release, which involved the governments of seven countries, as “a success of diplomacy and friendship.” It was noted that the released prisoners came from the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway, as well as the United States.
Today, the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War surpassed the 2010 swap involving 14 people. Biden claimed that his administration has brought home 70 Americans from captivity during his time in office, adding, “This is a powerful example of why it is critical to have friends in this world that you can trust and rely on.”
All people were released
Here are the names of those released, as announced by the White House. In addition to the four who returned to the United States, there are also twelve German citizens and Russian political prisoners who will return to Germany: Dieter Voronin, Kevin Lick, Rico Krieger, Patrick Schoebel, Herman Moyzhes, opposition politician Ilya Yashin, human rights activist Oleg Orlov, co-founder of the rights organization Memorial, two former employees of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Ksenia Fadeyeva and Lilia Chanysheva, and anti-war artist Sasha Skochilenko, followed by Vadim Ostanin and Andrey Pivovarov.
Eight people are returning to Russia: Vadim Krasikov (from Germany), Artem Viktorovich Dultsev (from Slovenia), Anna Valerevna Dultseva (from Slovenia), Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin (from Norway), Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov (from Poland), Roman Seleznev (from Slovenia to the United States), Vladislav Klyushin (from the United States), Vadim Konoshchenock (from the United States). According to a person familiar with the matter, two children who were not detained were also involved in the exchange.
Berlin: “Not an easy decision”
The German government has confirmed the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of killing a former Chechen militant in Berlin in 2019, and said it was “not an easy decision”. “Our obligation to protect German citizens and our solidarity with the United States were important motivating factors,” the government said in a statement. Poland has released Russian-Spanish journalist Pablo Gonzalez after more than two years and five months in custody on espionage charges. The man was arrested on the border between Poland and Ukraine shortly before Russia’s invasion in February 2022 on charges of spying for Moscow in the country.
First rumors
Rumors of an imminent swap have been growing since Sunday, August 28, after a series of high-profile Russian prisoners, considered political prisoners by the opposition and the West, were reported missing from detention centers and prisons across the country. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-British dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, both imprisoned in Russia, suddenly disappeared, and at least seven other Russian dissidents have been unexpectedly transferred from their prisons in recent days.
On Thursday, Russian media reported, without any confirmation, that another opposition activist, Vadim Ostanin, had been removed from his Siberian prison and transferred to Moscow. Russian online media “Agenstvo” reported that at least six special government planes had flown into areas where oppositionists were being held in prisons in recent days.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
