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wall street journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marines. Paul Whelan Published on Thursday Russia as part of a large cross-country exchange of two dozen prisoners.
As part of the exchange, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Anglo-Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as five German and seven Russian citizens Also released.
All of those who flew to Turkey as part of negotiated exchanges are in Russian prisons as their home countries strongly question the validity of the exchanges.
Eight Russians, including spy and convicted killer Vadim Krasikov, are being deported back to Russia from the United States, Slovenia, Norway, Poland and Germany.
Paul Whelan (left) and Evan Gershkovich
Reuters
Biden administration officials said Krasikov’s release was key to getting Russia to agree to the exchange.
Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva are U.S. citizens, while Karamurza is a permanent resident of the United States.
“The agreement that ensured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy,” President Joe Biden The agency said in a statement white houseBiden plans to meet with the families of the released Americans there.
“All told, we have negotiated the release of 16 Russians, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens, who were political prisoners in their own country,” Biden said.
“Some of them have been unjustly imprisoned for years. All have endured unimaginable pain and uncertainty. Today, their suffering ends.”
Arsu Kumlasheva (left) and Vladimir Kara-Murza
Getty Images
“Today’s exchange will be historic,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on a call with reporters.
“Not since the Cold War has there been an exchange of so many people in this way, and to our knowledge there has never been an exchange where so many countries and so many of America’s close partners and allies have worked together,” Sullivan said. “.
“This is the culmination of multiple rounds of complex and difficult negotiations over many months.”
Gershkovic was arrested in Russia on espionage charges in March 2023 and sentenced to prison in mid-July 16 years in prison After a trial that the U.S. government dismissed as a sham.
The journalist was convicted of collecting secret information on the activities of a defense company producing and servicing military equipment at the direction of U.S. intelligence services.
Whelan was sentenced in 2020, two years after his arrest in Moscow, on suspicion of espionage and is currently serving a 16-year sentence in Russia.
Those sent to Germany from Russian detention are: Dieter Voronin, Kevin Lick, Rico Krieger, Patrick Schoebel, Herman Moyzhes, Ilya Yashin, Liliya Chanysheva, Kseniya Fadeyeva, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, Sashaochilenko.
In addition to Krasikov, those sent to Russia include: Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva from Slovenia; Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin , from Norway; Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov, from Poland; and Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin and Vadim Konoshchenock from the United States.
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