The trio is set to return to the United States following months of complex negotiations involving the U.S., Russia, Belarus, and Germany. In total, 26 prisoners were freed in the exchange, which took place in the Turkish capital Ankara. “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. Under the agreement, 10 prisoners, including two minors, were transferred to Russia, while 13 were moved to Germany and three to the United States as part of the deal, according to Turkish officials. Additionally, two Russians held in Slovenia, one in Poland, and another in Norway have also been released. All are known or suspected to have ties to Russian intelligence, according to a report from CBS News. Three U.S. citizens and one American green-card holder are among those being brought home as part of the deal. Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 while working on a story for WSJ. He was charged with espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison last month. Whelan, 54, who traveled to Russia in 2018 to attend a friend’s wedding, was arrested on spying charges. He was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020. Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested last October and was charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. She was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison last month. Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, is a Russian-British opposition politician serving a 25-year prison sentence for treason and other charges for his criticism of the Ukraine war and calls for Western nations to impose sanctions on Russian officials. The prisoner swap is seen as a significant diplomatic victory for President Joe Biden, whose administration has secured the release of over 60 hostages and wrongful detainees during his tenure. “I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome — including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey,” Biden said in a statement. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer,” he added. “And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.”In a major diplomatic breakthrough, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were among over two dozen detainees released on Thursday, marking the largest multi-national prisoner swap since the Cold War.
