Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who had been imprisoned for a year, and former US Marine Paul Whelan, held for 5 years, are among the two dozen detainees released on Thursday (1st) as part of the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. In a speech from the White House, US President Joe Biden praised the release of the Americans, stating that his “administration brought back innocent people.”
The released Americans, which also included Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, were immediately transported to the United States.
Turkey stated it played a mediating role in the exchange, which involved 24 detainees and seven countries. A number of Russian dissidents were also released, and Moscow managed to secure the arrest of a convicted Russian murderer in Germany.
The prisoner swap was the result of complicated behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the US, Russia, Belarus, and Germany. The agreement ends a nightmare that lasted more than five years for Whelan and over a year for Gershkovich. Both were designated by the US as wrongfully detained.
Gershkovich (32) was the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. He was detained while reporting for the Wall Street Journal during a trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023. He was later accused of spying for the CIA. Russian authorities have never provided any public evidence to support their claims.
After his arrest, Gershkovich was held in the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, spending almost all hours of the day in a small cell, before being transferred to the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals, over 1,100 miles east of the capital.
He spent his time writing letters to friends and family and was allowed to walk only one hour a day, his parents said in an interview with the WSJ.
Gershkovich was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court on July 19 of this year, in a case that the US government and the WSJ condemned as a sham.
Gershkovich, the US government, and the WSJ have all vehemently denied the charges against him.
Source: CNN