Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. marine Paul Whelan have been dramatically released from jail in Russia.
The men were let go as part of a major prisoner swap with Moscow, said to involve around 20 to 30 political prisoners.
Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
Whelan, 54, has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on spying charges.
The US has denied he was ever involved in espionage operations.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been released from prison in Russia
Former US marine Paul Whelan has also been released as part of the major prisoner swap
Four Russians detained in the US on charges including cyber crime, smuggling and money laundering are thought to be part of the exchange.
The Moscow Times reported the individuals recently disappeared from the federal inmates’ database in America.
Speculation that a prisoner swap was imminent was raised by Slovenian broadcaster, N1 Slovenia, earlier this week.
The reports cited an exchange including the US, Germany, Russia and Belarus.
If claims of up to 30 prisoners being exchanged are true, it would be the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the end of the Cold War.
According to the anonymous source cited by the Moscow Times, Russian authorities have made ‘great efforts to keep the information inside Russia as much a secret as possible until the last moment.’
The developments came as recently as Wednesday, when Kremlin military aircraft reportedly flew to isolated regions in Russia where political prisoners are being held.
The US government has repeatedly stated its commitment to freeing both men, who they say were wrongfully detained.
Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friend’s wedding
The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, Gershkovich was fluent in Russian and moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the WSJ in 2022.
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friend’s wedding.
He maintains his innocence, saying the charges were fabricated.
Details about the conditions both men have been facing behind bars are scant and in recent days Whelan’s lawyer said she had lost track of where he was being housed.
His family previously told how he had been attacked in prison at the remote IK-17 camp in Mordovia by an inmate who allegedly punched him in his face and broke his glasses.
This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates….
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