Imprisoned American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were freed from their Russian prison cells Thursday as part of the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War.
The Americans were among 26 prisoners from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Russia, and Belarus freed as part of the prisoner exchange overseen by Turkish intelligence, Turkey’s presidency said.
Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich spent nearly 500 days in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison alongside serial killers and other political prisoners.
He and Whelan — who was arrested on a phony spying charge in 2018 — were among those freed in the extraordinary deal, the Turkish presidency confirmed.
German mercenary Rico Krieger, who was held in Belarus, and Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin were also let go, the Turkish officials confirmed.
Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a prominent critic of the Kremlin, are also speculated to be part of the deal, according to “Good Morning America.”
The Kremlin confirmed the deal, saying it hoped the freed prisoners – described as “enemies” – would steer clear, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
“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,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The deal involving prisoners from the US, Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus is the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Ten prisoners, including two minors, were transferred to Russia, while 13 were moved to Germany and three to the United States as part of the deal, Turkish officials said.
The White House initially declined to comment when asked about a possible exchange, which was then confirmed by Turkey, where it took place.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested and accused of spying on March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip for the Wall Street Journal in Yekaterinburg.
He was convicted of espionage earlier this month and sentenced to 16 years behind bars following a closed-doors trial that was widely condemned by international leadership.
Paul Whelan, 54, was visiting Russia for a friend’s wedding when he was arrested for espionage in 2018. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Speculation about a massive US-Russia prisoner swap picked up in the beginning of the week, when several prominent prisoners – including Whelan and Kara-Murza – were moved from their cells to unknown locations.
Four Russians imprisoned in the US – Alexander Vinnik, Maxim Marchenko, Vadim Konoshechenko, and Vladislav Klushin – also disappeared from the database operated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, the RIA state news agency claimed.
Three Russians serving federal prison sentences were transferred to US Marshals in preparation for the eventual trade, law enforcement sources confirmed to CNN Thursday.
A lawyer for Vinnik, a cybercrime kingpin who has been held in the US since 2022, declined to provide information about their client’s location “until the exchange takes place.”
Vadim Krasikov, identified by German officials as a high-ranking member of the FSB intelligence agency, was also supposedly en route to Ankara on Thursday, the German outlet Der Spiegel reported.
Krasikov was serving a life sentence for the 2019 murder of a Kremlin dissident in Berlin.
He was previously favored for a rumored exchange for Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in Western Siberia in February.
The last major exchange with Russia happened in December 2022, when American women’s basketball star Brittney Griner was released in return for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner had spent just under a year in Russian prison for having trace amounts of cannabis oil in her bags as she traveled through the country.
Bout — known as the “Merchant of Death” — had served 10 years behind bars after being convicted of conspiring to kill Americans and aiding a terrorist entity.
