August 2, 2024
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan Freed in Russia-West Prisoner Swap
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: Russia freed American journalist Evan Gershovitch and ex-Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday in the largest prisoner exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War. The White House said the US had negotiated trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The deal, which was negotiated in secret for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners, of whom 16 were moved from Russia to the West and eight prisoners held in the West were sent back to Russia. Among them was Vadim Krashikov, who was convicted of murdering an exiled dissident in Berlin, the German government said.
