Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and several other high-profile detainees were released into US custody on Thursday in the largest prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden lauded the swap, which was staged at Türkiye’s Ankara airport, as a “feat of diplomacy,” stating:
All told, we’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.
The White House identified the four Americans of the 16. In addition to Gershkovich and Whelan, they included RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and revered Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has permanent US residency.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 on spurulous espionage charges during an assignment for the newspaper. He was convicted earlier this summer following a trial held behind closed doors on account of “national security” concerns, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Speaking on behalf of Gershkovich’s friends, longtime friend Jeremy Berke told JURIST on Thursday: “We’re beyond thrilled to welcome our friend Evan back home. We want to thank all those who worked tirelessly for his return over the past 16 months, including his friends, President Biden, and especially his family.”
Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia while visiting Moscow in December 2018 to attend a friend’s wedding, also on espionage charges — a common charge lodged against foreign detainees ultimately used as fodder for prisoner swaps in Russia. He was also sentenced to 16 years.
Kurmasheva was arrested in October 2023. Initially charged with failure to register her US passport in Russia, she was subsequently accused and convicted of “disseminating false information” about the Russian military — a popular means of ensnaring journalists and opposition activists since Moscow’s unilateral invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Kara-Murza, among Russia’s most prominent opposition activists, was initially detained in April 2022 for failure to comply with police orders, though these charges too were replaced with more serious accusations of “discrediting the Russian military.” He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Investigative news site The Insider reported the identities of the others released to US custody in the deal as:
- Lilia Chanysheva, a Russian opposition activist who previously led a regional division of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny‘s anti-corruption organization,
- Ksenia Fadeeva, a Russian political activist and another regional coordinator for Navalny,
- Rico Krieger, a German national who was sentenced to death on dubious terrorism charges in Belarus, a close ally of Russia, broadly reputed as the “last dictatorship in Europe,”
- Kevin Lik, a German-Russian high school student whose sharing of photos led him to be the youngest person to be convicted of treason in the history of the Russian Federation,
- Herman Moyzhes, a Russian-German lawyer reportedly imprisoned for helping Russian citizens obtain EU visas,
- Oleg Orlov, a Russian national who had co-chaired the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial, which was initially established to commemorate the victims of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s Great Terror,
- Vadim Ostanin, another Russian Navalny associate,
- Andrei Pivovarov, a Russian human rights and political activist affiliated with the Open Russia movement,
- Alexandra Skochilenko, a Russian artist charged with disseminating false information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
- Patrick Schobel, a German national arrested for traveling to Russia with THC edibles,
- Demuri Voronin, a Russian political scientist convicted of treason for disseminating information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and
- Ilya Yashin, a famed opposition activist who played a central role in the 2011-2012 Bolotnaya Protests advocating for fair elections and challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin’s then-latest ascent to the Kremlin.
The Insider reported that the prisoners released into Russian custody included alleged contract killer Vadim Krasikov, alleged tech smuggler Vadim Konoshchenok, alleged hacker Roman Seleznev, and Vladislav Klyushin, a Russian businessperson convicted of insider trading. The swap also reportedly included a number of suspected illegals — spies living in a second country under false identities and without official cover — including Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva — who were posing as an Argentinean couple living in Slovenia — along with their two children, Mikhail Mikushin — posing as a Brazilian academic in Arctic Norway, and Pavel Rubtsov — posing as a Spanish journalist in Poland.
Biden said the diplomatic negotiations leading up to the release included support from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Türkiye.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken lauded the outcome of the diplomatic efforts that led to the swap:
Through many difficult conversations over the past several years, I told the families of those wrongfully detained in Russia that we would not forget them. I know there are many times over those years where they have wondered if our work would ever bear fruit. But I also know that they never gave up hope, and neither did we.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met the Russian returnees at the airport upon their arrival, stating: “First of all, I want to congratulate you all on your return to the Motherland.” He then addressed those who he believed had defended Russian security, stating: “I would like to express my gratitude to you for your loyalty to your oath and your duty to Russia, which has never for a minute forgotten about you.” He said they would all be nominated for federal awards.
This is an expanded version of an article initially published at 12:57 PM on Aug. 1, 2024.
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