The United States and Russia completed a historic, multilateral prisoner swap on Thursday involving a number of Western countries, freeing 26 women and men from seven countries, according to Turkish security officials.
The August 1 swap, mediated by Turkey, took place on the runway at Ankara airport. Western countries obtained the release of 16 people from Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporters, former US marines, and political prisoners, according to a statement by US President Joe Biden.
Russia secured the freedom of eight of its own nationals who had been convicted of serious crimes in the West.
“Today, three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia are finally coming home,” President Biden said on Thursday. They are Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The Wall Street Journal welcomed the release of journalist Evan Greshkovich who had been detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023.
A Russian court later found Greshkovich “guilty” of espionage and sentenced the US journalist last month to 16 years in a penal colony, something that has not happened since the Cold War, according to Reuters.
Turkish intelligence officials mediated the exchange. “Our organization has undertaken a major mediation role in this exchange operation, which is the most comprehensive in recent history,” the Turkish National Intelligence Organization said in statement on Thursday.
Those who were released included Russian artist Alexandra Skolchilenko, known as “Sasha,” who had been sentenced to seven years in prison for her anti-war protests.
Russian dissidents and opposition figures Kara-Murza, Andrei Pivovarov, Lilia Chanysheva, Oleg Orlov, Ilya Yashin, Kevin Lik, and Ksenia Fadeyeva were also released as part of the deal, according to The Washington Post.
German-Russian political scientist Dieter Voronin was also released along with Patrick Schobel, a German national arrested on drug charges.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, freed Rico Krieger, a German citizen previously convicted of “terrorism” charges.
In return, Russia received Vadim Krasikov, a Russian who had been imprisoned in Germany for assassinating a former Chechen rebel commander in 2019.
The US released several Russians, according to US media outlets, including Vladislav Klyushin, a Russian businessman convicted in a “hack-to-trade” fraud scheme; Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian legislator jailed for involvement in a cyberattack; and Vadim Konoshchenok, a Russian security official who had been arrested in Estonia and extradited to the US.
Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, a Russian couple imprisoned in Slovenia on spying charges, were also released.
Poland freed Pablo Gonzalez, a Russian-Spanish journalist identified by CNN as Pavel Rubtsov, a Russian spy.
Mikhail Valerievich Mikushin, a Russian charged with spying in Norway, was also freed.
The international community was quick to react to the exchange.
The UN Human Rights office expressed “relief” over the release especially of Gershkovich, Kara-Murza, Kurmasheva and Orlov, according to a tweet by the UN agency.
“All journalists & rights defenders detained solely for doing their jobs must be freed,” it wrote.
NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said, “We welcome the release today of several political prisoners from Russia. The deal that secured their freedom was negotiated by several NATO allies working together.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donal Tusk tweeted, “The prisoner exchange operation has just ended, thanks to which Russian opposition heroes and citizens of NATO countries detained in Russia have left Russia. The action was possible thanks to the involvement of our state [Poland]. I would like to thank the President and the services for their exemplary cooperation.”
President Biden said the exchange was “a feat of diplomacy and friendship” that would not have been possible without US allies. “Today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world,” he said.
Yesterday, the Kremlin expressed its “hope” that those who had left Russia, whom it labeled as “enemies,” would remain abroad, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
“Let the traitors now feverishly take new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programs,” former President Dmitry Medvedev quipped.
A number of other countries whose nationals were released welcomed the swap.