Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan have been freed in a prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Both men had been serving long prison sentences in Russia for espionage ― charges they and their supporters have consistently denied.
While the exchange has not been officially confirmed by other sources, it is believed that the swap involved dozens of prisoners held in Russia being exchanged for Russians detained in the U.S., Germany, and Slovenia.
The exchange reportedly took place in several locations, including Kaliningrad, a Russian territory, and Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
Background on the Prisoners
Evan Gershkovich was the first U.S. journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.
He was detained by Russian authorities in March 2023 while on assignment and was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a closed trial.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested in 2018 during a visit to Russia.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after Russian authorities claimed to have found "secret materials" on a flash drive in his hotel room. Whelan has always insisted he was not a spy.
Details of the Exchange
The exchange is said to include the release of Anna and Artyom Dultsev, two Russian spies recently convicted in Slovenia, and Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB officer who was serving a life sentence in Germany for killing a former Chechen rebel leader in Berlin in 2019.
This is the first major prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since 2010, when the U.S. swapped 10 Russian spies for four Russians accused of helping U.S. intelligence.
The most recent exchange before this one was in December 2022, when American basketball player Brittney Griner was traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
