Russia prisoner swap involving US journalist Evan Gershkovich under way
Shaun Walker
A major prisoner exchange between Russia and the west is under way involving the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been freed from Russian custody, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Sources with knowledge of the planned exchange confirmed to the Guardian that a major swap would take place on Thursday in a location outside Russia. They declined to make further details public until after the swap had taken place owing to sensitivity of the matter.
Gershkovich and the former US marine Paul Whelan, both accused by Russian authorities of espionage, had already been freed and were en route to a destination outside Russia, Bloomberg reported.
The Guardian understands the exchange will also involve Russian political prisoners being freed as well as numerous Russians jailed in the west for espionage, murder and other crimes being returned to Russia.
Key events
One of the figures freed as part of the prisoner exchange, according to the Turkish presidency, was Ilya Yashin, one of Russia’s most prominent opposition leaders.
Yashin has been serving an 8.5-year sentence for criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He had said in letters from prison that he believed Vladimir Putin had gone “mad from power.”
“I understand my own risks. I am behind bars, my life is in Putin’s hands, and it is in danger. But I will continue to push my line,” he wrote.
Here’s a live feed of the airport in Ankara.
The Turkish presidency has said that ten prisoners have been relocated to Russia, 13 prisoners to Germany and three to the United States, Reuters reported.
The prisoners in the swap are from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus, Turkey said.
Here’s a photo from Ankara today, as a major prisoner swap is reportedly under way.
Who is Paul Whelan?
Whelan, 54, is a retired US marine who was arrested back in 2018.
Russian authorities arrested Whelan – a corporate security executive from Michigan – at a hotel in Moscow on accusations that he was part of an intelligence-gathering operation.
He received a 16-year prison sentence in 2020. He insists that the evidence against him was falsified.
Last year, Whelan – who also holds UK, Irish and Canadian passports – said that being omitted from two previous prisoner swaps with the Kremlin at best “painted a target” on his back.
Turkish channel NTV is running footage from an airport in Ankara, reportedly showing part of the prisoner exchange process.
Who is Evan Gershkovich?
Gershkovich is an American Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested while reporting in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023.
In July, a Russian court found the 32-year old guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
The Wall Street Journal described the verdict as a “disgraceful, sham conviction”.
The US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, had said Gershkovich’s case “is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends”.
Turkish intelligence agency says it’s coordinating swap
The Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) said it would coordinate an extensive prisoner swap today, Reuters reported.
“A (prisoner) exchange operation will take place today under the coordination of our organisation,” the agency said in a statement.
It added:
Our organization has undertaken a major mediation role in this exchange operation, which is the most comprehensive of the recent period.
Russia prisoner swap involving US journalist Evan Gershkovich under way
Shaun Walker
A major prisoner exchange between Russia and the west is under way involving the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been freed from Russian custody, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Sources with knowledge of the planned exchange confirmed to the Guardian that a major swap would take place on Thursday in a location outside Russia. They declined to make further details public until after the swap had taken place owing to sensitivity of the matter.
Gershkovich and the former US marine Paul Whelan, both accused by Russian authorities of espionage, had already been freed and were en route to a destination outside Russia, Bloomberg reported.
The Guardian understands the exchange will also involve Russian political prisoners being freed as well as numerous Russians jailed in the west for espionage, murder and other crimes being returned to Russia.