The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
The United States and Russia carried out a historic prisoner exchange Thursday when two dozen detainees, including former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich , were released as part of a sweeping deal that involved at least seven countries.
"Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close US partners and allies working together," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday.
Champagne bottles popped on Thursday inside The Wall Street Journal newsroom as staffers celebrated the release of their colleague Gershkovich. Krasikov was convicted of the murder in 2019 of the former Chechen fighter Zelimkhan "Tornike" Khangoshvili in Berlin. The German court that convicted him in 2021 said he acted on behalf of the Russian state, shooting his victim "execution style" in broad daylight.
The number of people Germany is getting in exchange for Krasikov - five German nationals and seven Russian opposition figures - is indicative of the severity of his crime and his high profile. "Other nations were also critical to securing this deal - Norway, Slovenia and Poland all had custody of additional Russians included in this exchange," Sullivan said. "We also are deeply grateful to Turkey for providing the critical logistic support that has made this deal possible."US officials engaged in months of quiet conversations with the German counterparts about the possibility of releasing Krasikov.
But tentative plans in the works that involved the release of Krasikov for Navalny were dealt a blow when Navalny died in a remote Russian penal colony. The negotiations across the interagency - up to the level of Scholz and Biden - eventually led to the list of the dozen political prisoners released from Russia Thursday. At the same time, the US began reaching out to allies who had Russian spies in their custody to see who else they could include to get Russia to agree.
Prisoner Swap Evan Gershkovich Paul Whelen Vladmir Kara-Murza Vladmir Putin Joe Biden Kamala Harris Multi-National Prisoner Swap 15136068
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Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan freed from Russia in historic multi-country prisoner swap, back in USThe United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Read more »
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan freed from Russia in historic multi-country prisoner swap, back in USThe United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Read more »
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan freed from Russia in historic multi-country prisoner swap, back in USThe United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Read more »
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan freed from Russia in historic multi-country prisoner swap, back in USThe United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Read more »