Russia-West Prisoner Swap: List Of People Released In Biggest Exchange Since Cold War
The US and Russia exchanged prisoners, including journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan from the US, and Russian dissidents like Ilya Yashin and Alexandra Skochilenko.
The United States and Russia on Thursday (local time) completed one of their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including a former FSB colonel convicted of murder as well as several individuals accused of spying or cybercrime.
President Joe Biden, while welcoming families of the returning Americans to the White House, trumpeted the exchange as a diplomatic feat. “Deals like this one come with tough calls,” Biden said according to a report by Associated Press.
He added, “There’s nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.”
The trade was completed despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Here is what we know about all those who were freed.
Russians Released
Vadim Krasikov
A former high-ranking FSB colonel serving a life sentence in a German prison, Krasikov was on the top of Moscow’s list of Russian prisoners it wanted to exchange, according to a report by CNN. He was convicted for the 2019 murder of the former Chechen fighter Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten.
Vadim Konoshchenok
Konoshchenok, who was reportedly facing charges of conspiracy over his role in a global procurement and money laundering network on behalf of the Russian government, was also released on Thursday. Konoshchenok, who allegedly has ties to the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency, was extradited to the US from Estonia earlier this month.
Vladislav Klyushin
Klyushin, a Russian businessman, was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Boston court last year, for his role in what the US authorities called “an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately USD 93 million through securities trades based on confidential corporate information stolen from US computer networks.”
Roman Seleznev
As per the CNN report, Seleznev – known as Track2, Bulba and Ncux 3 – is a convicted hacker and credit card fraudster who was serving a 27-year sentence in the US. Russian officials had previously asked for Seleznev to be part of the Griner and Bout exchange in 2022. The US has reportedly agreed to that, but the deal fell apart when it was unable to offer Krasikov as well.
Artem Dultsev And Anna Dultseva
Artem and Anna are both Russian deep-cover spies, who were arrested in Slovenia. They had pleaded guilty in a swift court case on Wednesday that potentially paved the way for them to be included in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
Dultsev was living undercover in Slovenia, posing as an IT businessman named Ludvig Gish. Dultseva, meanwhile posed as an art dealer and gallery owner and is thought to be married to Dultsev.
Mikhail Mikushin
Mikushin, a Russian spy, was arrested in Norway in 2022, while he was working at the University of Tromsø in the Arctic Circle, pretending to be a Brazilian researcher.
Pavel Rubtsov
Rubtsov, also a Russian spy, was living in Poland under the false pretence of being a Spanish journalist called Pablo Gonzales, before he was arrested in February 2022, according to the CNN report.
Russian Opposition Figures Released
Ilya Yashin
A Kremlin critic, Yashin was sentenced to eight years and six months for spreading “false information” about the Russian army in December 2022. He was a close ally of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. The court has ordered him to serve his sentence “in a strict regime correctional colony.”
Alexandra Skochilenko
A Russian artist, Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2023 after she replaced price tags with anti-war messages in a St. Petersburg grocery store, as an act of protest.
Oleg Orlov
A human rights activist and the former head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization “Memorial”, Orlov was sentenced to two and half years in prison for speaking up against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as per the CNN report.
Lilia Chanysheva
Chanysheva, a former staffer in the Navalny’s organization, was serving a nine and half years prison sentence, after being found guilty of “organizing an extremist community.”
Ksenia Fadeeva
Another former associate of Navalny, Fadeeva was sentenced to nine years in prison in December 2023, after being convicted of organizing the activities of an extremist group using her official position and participating in a non-profit organization that violated citizens’ rights.
Vadim Ostanin
Ostanin was also a former staffer at Alexei Navalny’s foundation. He was sentenced to nine years in prison on extremism charges.
Andrei Pivovarov
Pivovarov is an opposition activist and human rights defender and has served as the head of the since-banned Open Russia movement. He was reportedly sentenced to four years in a penal colony in July 2022.
American Citizens Released
Evan Gershkovich
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in July. He was the first American journalist to be arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
Paul Whelan
Former US Marine, Whelan, has spent almost six years in Russian prisons after his arrest in Moscow in December 2018. In 2020, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges that he and the US government vehemently denied.
Alsu Kurmasheva
A Russian-American journalist, Kurmasheva was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of spreading false information about the Russian army.
Vladimir Kara-Murza
A prominent Russian opposition politician, Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason after publicly condemning Moscow’s war in Ukraine. He is a permanent resident of the US and a dual citizen of Russia and the United Kingdom, as per the CNN report.
German Citizens Released
Rico Krieger
The German citizen, Krieger was sentenced to death in Belarus in June after being charged with terrorism and mercenary activities. He was pardoned by the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on July 30, according to Lukashenko’s office.
Kevin Lik
Kevin Lik, a dual citizen of Russia and Germany--accused of photographing and filming military equipment and personnel at the Maikop garrison in Russia -- was convicted of high treason in December 2023, according to a TASS report.
Demuri (Dieter) Voronin
As per Russian state news agency TASS, Voronin -- a German citizen -- was accused of helping Ivan Safronov, a former journalist and adviser to the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, who was accused of treason. Safronov was sentenced to 22 years in prison and Voronin to 13 years and 3 months.
Herman Moyzhes
As per a report by TASS, Moyzhes, a lawyer and cycling activist, was charged earlier this month with treason for helping Russian citizens obtain residence permits in Europe.
Patrick Schoebel
As per the CNN report, Schoebel was detained at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg in January for carrying a bag containing cannabis gummy bears.
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