The United States and Russia conducted their largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Soviet Union. Moscow released journalist Evan Gershkovich, fellow American Paul Whelan, and several dissidents, including Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The multinational agreement freed a total of 24 people.
Gershkovich, Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual US-Russian citizenship, arrived in the United States just before midnight, where they were reunited with their families at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris waited for them on the tarmac to welcome them with hugs.
The swap happened despite strained relations between Washington, DC and Moscow, worsened by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
During backchannel negotiations, the possibility of including Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the exchange was explored, but after his death in February, a new 24-person deal was finalised.
This required significant concessions from European allies, including the release of a Russian assassin, to secure the freedom of various journalists, suspected spies, political prisoners, and others.
President Biden praised the exchange, the largest in a series of swaps with Russia, as a diplomatic success and welcomed the families of the returning Americans to the White House.
However, the deal underscored an inherent imbalance: the US and its allies released Russians charged or convicted of serious crimes in exchange for Russia freeing journalists, dissidents, and others imprisoned on charges seen by the West as politically motivated.
“Deals like this one come with tough calls,” Biden said. “There’s nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.”
The deal saw Russia release Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in 2023 on espionage charges which he and the US government continue to deny.
Also released were Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed since 2018 on espionage charges he and Washington denied, and Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer rejected.
The released dissidents included Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated, and several associates of Navalny.
Among them were Oleg Orlov, a veteran human rights campaigner, and Ilya Yashin, imprisoned for criticising the war in Ukraine.
In exchange, Russia received Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany in 2021 for killing a former Chechen rebel in Berlin, reportedly on orders from Moscow’s security services.
After Navalny’s death, officials renewed efforts to release Krasikov, ultimately persuading Germany to release him.
Additionally, Russia gained custody of two alleged sleeper agents jailed in Slovenia, and three men charged in the US, including Roman Seleznev, a convicted hacker, and Vadim Konoshchenok, accused of supplying US-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military.
Norway and Poland also released individuals detained on espionage charges.
“Today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world,” Biden said.
In total, six countries released prisoners, with Turkey hosting the swap in Ankara.
Biden emphasised the priority of securing the release of wrongfully detained Americans in his foreign policy agenda. In an Oval Office address announcing his decision not to seek a second term, he reiterated this commitment, highlighting the administration’s efforts to bring home over 70 Americans as part of various deals.
The Biden administration’s efforts to bring home detained Americans have faced criticism for potentially incentivising future hostage-taking.
Roger Carstens, the US government’s top hostage negotiator, defended the deals, stating that the number of wrongfully detained Americans has actually decreased.
Thursday’s swap surpassed a 2010 deal involving 14 individuals. In that exchange, Washington freed 10 Russians living in the US as sleeper agents.
For its part, Moscow released four Russians, including Sergei Skripal, who was later poisoned in Britain in 2018 in an attack blamed on Russian agents.
