Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan freed by Russia in biggest East-West prisoner swap since Cold War

WASHINGTON:

US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan were freed by Russia on Thursday in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War, a complex deal negotiated in secret for more than a year.

The White House said the US had negotiated the complex trade deal with Russia and other countries. It said eight prisoners held in the West were being sent back to Russia.

Germany confirmed that it included Vadim Krasikov, convicted of murdering an exiled dissident in Berlin.

President Joe Biden hailed the deal as “a feat of diplomacy and friendship” and praised Washington’s allies for their “bold and brave decisions.”

“This would not be possible without our allies,” he said, adding: “Today is a powerful example of why it is vital to have friends in this world.”

Turkey, which coordinated the exchange, said 10 people, including two children, were taken to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States. Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus also took part in the exchange.

“After the parties’ validation procedures were completed, health screenings … the detainees were placed on the planes of the countries to which they would travel with the approval and direction of MIT,” the National Intelligence Service (MIT). ) is mentioned in an announcement.

A Reuters reporter saw a Russian government jet taking off from Ankara.

The Kremlin said Moscow’s decision to pardon and release prisoners was made in order to bring Russian prisoners home.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a vocal supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has seen hundreds of critics arrested and sent relations with Washington to their worst level since the Cold War, was scathing in a Telegram post:

“Now let the traitors feverishly collect new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programs.”

RUSSIAN DIFFERENTS FREED

In the last major exchange in 2010, 14 prisoners were exchanged.

In December 2022, Russia swapped US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years for having vaping cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence in USA.

Krasikov is a colonel in Russia’s FSB security service who was serving a life sentence in Germany for killing an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had said he wanted Krashikov back and the German government, commenting on the swap deal, said it was “not an easy decision” to release him.

Rico Krieger, a German sentenced to death in Belarus on terrorism charges, was pardoned on Tuesday by President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, before being released.

Also freed was Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident serving 25 years for treason after he told the Arizona House of Representatives in March 2022 that Putin was bombing Ukrainian homes, hospitals and schools.

Along with him, human rights activist Oleg Orlov and Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin were released.

Many of those freed had worked with Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition figure, who died in unclear circumstances at an Arctic penal colony in February.

His widow Yulia Navalnaya, who has vowed to continue his work, hailed the releases as “great happiness”.

“Every political prisoner freed is a huge victory and joy. No one should be held hostage by Putin, tortured and die in Putin’s prison,” he wrote on X.

SMALL SIGN OF WIDER US-RUSSIA THAW

The massive exchange comes in the final months of Biden’s tenure after he dropped out of his re-election bid, nearly four years marked by a sharp rise in tensions between the countries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Administration officials said the multi-country deal appeared to be a one-time exchange that did not herald an easing of tensions between the nuclear-armed nations.

Those released by the US were named as Roman Seleznev Vladislav Klyushin and Vadim Konoshchenok.

In the West, dissidents are seen by governments and activists as unjustly detained political prisoners. All, for different reasons, have been labeled by Moscow as dangerous extremists.

A Slovenian court on Wednesday sentenced two Russians to prison for espionage and using fake IDs and said they would be deported. Both were among those returned to Russia, according to an official US list.

WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker posted an open letter on Platform X that read: “Today is a happy day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who jetted off a Russian jet just moments ago in the Turkish capital of Ankara. as part of a Prisoner Exchange with Russia…

“We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with tenacity and determination to bring Evan home instead of sending him to a Russian labor camp for a crime he did not commit.”