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A hitman, an identity thief and a money launderer are among eight prisoners released by the US as part of a historic prisoner swap with Moscow. The convicts were let go in exchange for the release of 16 prisoners from Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan. The exchange of 26 inmates is the biggest prisoner swap by Russia with the West since the end of the Cold War.
The trade involves seven countries and got underway on the runway at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday. Among those on the plane was assassin Vadim Krasikov (pictured), the so-called bicycle killer, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for murder. Krasikov was convicted of gunning down Zelimkhan ‘Tornike’ Khangoshvili, 40, in broad daylight in a central Berlin park in June 2019.
He rode up to the Georgia-born Chechen separatist on a bicycle and executed him in Berlin’s Kleine Tiergarten park in December 2021. A German court called it a ‘state-contracted killing’ on behalf of the Kremlin. Russian media outlet The Insider has also published the names of the seven others released back to Russia.
They include cyber criminals Roman Seleznev and Vladislav Klyushin (pictured) who are being returned from the US, according to the outlet. Seleznev was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in a $50 million cyber fraud ring and for defrauding banks of $9 million through a hacking scheme. Russian businessman Klyushin was convicted for involvement in an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million through securities trades, based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks.
Vadim Konoshchenko (pictured), who was accused of providing US-made electronic and ammunition to the Russian military, is reportedly the final prisoner to be released from the US, according to the reports. Spanish-Russian journalist Pavel Rubtsov who is accused of being a spy, was released from Poland , per The Insider. Married couple Artem and Anna Dultsev were returned to Russia from Slovenia, where they were convicted of espionage charges.
The couple had been living under the assumed names of María Rosa Mayer Muños and Ludwig Gisch and were sentenced to 19 months in jail. Mikhail Mikushin, an academic who entered Norway as a Brazilian citizen, has also been released. He was arrested on suspicion of spying in 2022.
The convicts were released in exchange for 16 Western prisoners, including three US citizens. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be released imminently following almost 500 days in detention.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July. Former US marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018, is also part of the trade.
Whelan, 54, was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on spying charges. The US has denied he was ever involved in espionage operations. Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmashevas was the final US citizen to be released by Russia.
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