Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan have been dramatically released from prison in Russia.
The men were released as part of a major prisoner swap with Moscow, said to involve between 20 and 30 political prisoners.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States considers illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
Whelan, 54, has been jailed in Russia since 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on espionage charges.
The United States has denied it has ever been involved in espionage operations.
Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich has been released from prison in Russia
Former US Marine Paul Whelan was also released as part of the massive prisoner exchange.
Four Russians detained in the United States on charges including cybercrime, smuggling and money laundering are believed to have been part of the exchange.
The Moscow Times reported that the individuals recently disappeared from the federal inmate database in the United States.
Slovenian broadcaster N1 Slovenia speculated earlier this week that a prisoner swap was imminent.
The reports cited an exchange that included the United States, Germany, Russia and Belarus.
If claims that as many as 30 prisoners were exchanged are true, it would be the largest prisoner exchange 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 information inside Russia as secret as possible until the last moment.”
The developments occurred as recently as Wednesday, when Kremlin military planes reportedly flew into isolated regions of Russia where political prisoners are being held.
The US government has repeatedly stated its commitment to freeing Gershkovich, whom it believes is unjustly detained.
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States considers illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July 2021.
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 emigrants 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 most of the men face behind bars are scarce and in recent days Whelan’s lawyer said he had lost track of where he was being held.
This is breaking news, please check back for updates…
