US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were released from Russia on Thursday in a major East-West prisoner swap, announced by the Turkish government.
The swap, facilitated by Turkey’s MIT intelligence service, involved 26 people from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Belarus, and Russia. Although there was no immediate confirmation from US officials, the swap was widely reported by US media.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was detained in Russia in March 2023 and convicted on spying charges in July. Among those returned to Russia was Vadim Krasikov, imprisoned in Germany for the assassination of a former Chechen rebel commander.
Reports of an imminent swap gained momentum when a plane used in a previous exchange landed in Kaliningrad. Hopes increased after several high-profile prisoners in Russia, including Whelan, went missing from their facilities, suggesting they were being moved ahead of the exchange.
This exchange marks one of the largest since the Cold War, with significant swaps last occurring in 2010 and during the Cold War in 1985 and 1986. The aircraft used in the Griner and Bout exchange was tracked flying from Moscow to Kaliningrad, then taking off two hours later.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg while reporting, and both he and the US government denied espionage allegations.
Source: AFP
