Freed American Prisoners from Moscow Arrives in the US.
Freed American Prisoners from Moscow where greeted by US President Biden and VP Harris.
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, were released from Russian custody on Thursday as part of a massive prisoner swap involving the U.S., Russia, Germany, Norway, and Slovenia.
The exchange, which took place in Ankara, Turkey, included 26 people in total, with 10 individuals, including two children, being transferred to Russia, 13 to Germany, and 3 to the U.S.
Gershkovich and Whelan were among the Americans released, along with Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison last month.
Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage, and Gershkovich, who was arrested in March 2023 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on the same charges, have both denied the accusations and were designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. State Department.
The prisoner swap also included the release of 12 German nationals who were political prisoners in Russia, as well as the transfer of 8 Russians to the U.S., 3 of whom were released from American custody.
President Biden praised the exchange as a “powerful reminder of why it’s vital to have friends in the world whom we can trust and depend upon.”
What were the charges against the Russians being released to the U.S?
Russia secured the release of its own nationals convicted of serious crimes in the West by trading them for Americans and other Westerners convicted on charges the U.S. considers bogus.
The available information indicates that Russia received back Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscow’s security services.
Additionally, a Slovenian court sentenced two Russians to time served for espionage and using fake identities, and they were to be deported as part of the deal.
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