The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan are heading home. They have both been turned over to the United States in what’s being hailed as the most complicated prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia in decades.
The exchange, which took place at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday involved seven countries. During a news conference, President Joe Biden called the exchange “a feat of diplomacy and friendship.” He added, “Multiple countries helped get this done. They joined a difficult, complex negotiation at my request.”
Turkey reportedly helped mediate the negotiations.
Three Americans were freed, as were what The New York Times described as “several jailed Russian opposition figures.” The article noted that “the scope of the deal has little precedent in the post-Soviet era.” Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway were also involved.
In all, 16 were released by the Russians and eight were feed by the West after what’s been described as a monthslong negotiation.
Prisoners exchanged
Among those freed:
- Gershkovich, 32, held for 16 months in Russian prison on the claim he’d been spying. He was sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony.
- Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, also a journalist and a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty editor, who’d been held part of a year. She was charged with failing to register as a foreign agent and sentenced to 25 years for criticizing the war in Ukraine.
- Paul Whelan, 54, held in Russia for more than five years, was also convicted of espionage.
During a press conference announcing the exchange, the families of the three Americans released and Biden sang “Happy Birthday” to Kurmasheva’s daughter, Miram Butorin, who is turning 13 tomorrow.
“Family is the beginning and middle and the end,” Biden said. “I can think of nothing more consequential.”
CNN reported that the Americans are “now wheels up from Turkey and headed to the U.S.”
Russian political prisoners released include Ilya Rashinia, 41; Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42; and Oleg Orlov, 71.
Russia also freed several German nationals, and Germany released Vadim Krasikov, who had been convicted of a 2019 murder in Berlin reportedly ordered by the Russian government. The Times reported the U.S. released three prisoners, including a convicted hacker. Slovenia, Norway and Poland released four accused Russian spies.
“Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,” Biden said in a statement about the prisoners freed by Russia.
According to ABC News, “A senior administration official says despite this significant agreement, there should be no expectation of improved U.S.-Russia relations going forward.”
On X, Paul Beckett of The Wall Street Journal posted a photo of the three with an American flag. He wrote: “Free. Amazing.”