West and Russia agree to largest prisoner swap since Cold War

Several countries have agreed to a massive prisoner exchange deal in which Russia has agreed to release several journalists and critics of the Kremlin it had detained in recent years. It is believed to be the largest prisoner swap involving Russia since the Cold War.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the United States has secured the release of 16 people, including four American citizens or residents: Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter; Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian dissident; and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine.

Biden spoke at the White House alongside the families of the Americans on their way home.

The negotiations included Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey, in addition to the U.S. and Russia.

“And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family,” Biden said in a statement. “My Administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office.”

The deal also released 12 German nationals and Russian political prisoners who will return to Germany, according to CNN. The 12 are Dieter Voronin, Kevin Lick, Rico Krieger, Patrick Schoebel, Herman Moyzhes, Ilya Yashin, Liliya Chanysheva, Kseniya Fadeyeva, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, and Sasha Skochilenko.

The individuals released from Russia were flown to Turkey, where they will then return to their home countries.

In exchange, the U.S. released three Russians: Vadim Konoshchenock, Vladislav Klyushin, and Roman Seleznev. Norway agreed to release Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin and Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov, Slovenia agreed to release Anna Valerevna Dultseva and Artem Viktorovich, and Germany agreed to release Vadim Krasikov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought to secure the freedom of Krasikov, a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy agency who was convicted of murdering a former Chechen fighter in Germany in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania resident who was charged with smuggling drugs and received a 14-year prison sentence in 2022, was not included in the deal.

“My pledge to the families of those still separated from their families is the same that I made to those returning home today,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We will not forget you, and we will not rest until you see your loved ones again.”

Whelan and Gershkovich were both arrested on claims that they were U.S. spies, which both they and the U.S. government adamantly rejected. They both received 16-year prison sentences — Whelan in 2020 and Gershkovich about two weeks ago. Whelan had been detained in Russia since late 2018 and is the longest-held American included in the deal.

“We are overwhelmed with relief and elated for Evan and his family, as well as for the others who were released,” Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement. “At the same time, we condemn in the strongest terms Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, which orchestrated Evan’s 491-day wrongful imprisonment based on sham accusations and a fake trial as part of an all-out assault on the free press and truth. Unfortunately, many journalists remain unjustly imprisoned in Russia and around the world.”

Whelan spent more than 2,000 days in Russian captivity. His family released a lengthy statement following the announcement of his inclusion in the deal, thanking a number of government leaders and advocates who have championed his case.

“Paul Whelan is not in a Russian labor colony any longer, but he is not home,” the family said. “While Paul was wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, he lost his home. He lost his job. We are unsure how someone overcomes these losses and rejoins society after being a hostage. We are grateful for everyone’s efforts to help Paul while he was away.”

Kurmasheva, who is American and Russian but lives in Prague, was visiting her mother in Russia last year when she was detained. Her husband and two daughters traveled to Washington last month to advocate her release.

“Today, my daughters and I are witnessing a historic act of resolve and compassion by the U.S. government and its allies, demonstrating that the free world values human life and family above all else, even when it means exchanging real criminals and spies to save wrongfully detained Americans,” Pavel Butorin, Kurmasheva’s husband, said in a statement.

The U.S. had agreed to two prisoner exchanges during the Biden administration ahead of Thursday’s massive agreement. In 2022, the U.S. secured the release of Trevor Reed in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko and later got WNBA superstar Brittney Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Once Bout was released in the deal that secured the release of Griner, who is playing for Team USA in the Olympics, the U.S. did not have any high-level Russians in its prison system whom they could use to secure the release of Whelan, who was left behind in those deals. At that point, a U.S.-Russia hostage deal became more complicated, but Putin had a primary target in Krasikov.