Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 26.
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In one of many largest prisoner swaps between the USA, its allies and Russia for the reason that finish of the Chilly Battle, Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan are amongst greater than a dozen prisoners launched by Russia in alternate for Russian prisoners held by the USA and nations all through Europe, U.S. officers mentioned Thursday.
In all, below the deal, 16 political prisoners, journalists and others, together with 5 Germans, are being exchanged for eight Russians jailed within the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland. Among the many Russians is Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian state murderer in German custody, in addition to three different Russians in U.S. custody.
President Biden mentioned the swap deal was “a feat of diplomacy” and thanked allies who labored with the USA on the deal. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend on,” he mentioned in a press release.
“Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way,” mentioned U.S. nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan, including the alternate was the “culmination of many rounds of complex painstaking negotiations over many, many months.”
These returning to the U.S. from Russia embody Gershkovich, Whelan, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe, and Russian journalist and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. everlasting resident.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed appreciation to the Turkish authorities for “providing a location for the safe return of these individuals to the United States and Germany.”
The Turkish authorities mentioned in a press release that it had performed a key function and “conducted the most extensive prisoner exchange operation of recent times in Ankara,” involving not solely Whelan and Gershkovich, but additionally Rico Krieger, whom it recognized as a German mercenary imprisoned in Belarus; Russian dissident Ilya Yashin; and Vadim Krasikov, whom it recognized as a colonel within the FSB, Russia’s inner safety service.
The assertion mentioned the operation was carried out by MIT, the Turkish intelligence service.
Gershkovich was arrested in Moscow in March 2023 and have become the primary U.S. journalist for the reason that Chilly Battle to be charged with espionage. Final month, a Russian court docket sentenced him to 16 years in jail, after he was accused by the Russian prosecutor of working with the CIA to gather data on a Russian arms firm. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. authorities strenuously denied the allegations, and the U.S. thought of Gershkovich wrongfully detained.
In a press release, Wall Road Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker mentioned, “We can finally say, in unison, ‘Welcome home, Evan.’”
Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran who holds U.S., British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on charges of espionage he strongly denied. On June 15, 2020, a Moscow court sentenced Whelan to 16 years in prison.
In a statement on Thursday, his family said: “Paul was held hostage for two,043 days. His case was that of an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as a part of their blighted initiative to make use of people as pawns to extract concessions … Whereas Paul was wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, he misplaced his dwelling. He misplaced his job. We’re uncertain how somebody overcomes these losses and rejoins society after being a hostage. We’re grateful for everybody’s efforts to assist Paul whereas he was away. We hope you’ll proceed to assist him by offering Paul the house and privateness he wants as he rebuilds his life. It’s Paul’s story to inform and he’ll inform it when he’s in a position.”
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy welcomed the release of Whelan and Kara-Murza, both of whom are British nationals. “Mr Kara-Murza is a dedicated opponent of Putin’s regime,” Lammy mentioned in a press release. “He should never have been in prison in the first place: the Russian authorities imprisoned him in life-threatening conditions because he courageously told the truth about the war in Ukraine.”
Stephen Capus, the president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Alsu Kurmasheva’s employer, mentioned in a press release: “Alsu was targeted because she was an American journalist who was simply trying to take care of a family member inside Russia. She did nothing wrong and certainly did not deserve the unjust treatment and forced separation from her loving family members and colleagues. Alsu’s release makes us even more determined to secure the freedom of three other RFE/RL journalists, cruelly imprisoned in Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea. We will not rest until all our unjustly detained journalists are home safe. Journalism is not a crime.”
This can be a breaking information story and will likely be up to date.
