Russia releases Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in historic prisoner swap with WestBy Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Ivana Kottasová, CNN
The United States and Russia carried out a historic prisoner exchange Thursday when two dozen detainees, including former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, were released as part of a sweeping deal that involved at least seven countries.
Thursday’s massive swap was the result of years of complicated behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the US, Russia, Belarus and Germany, ultimately leading Berlin to agree to release Moscow’s key demand – convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov.
A Russian Tupolev Tu-204-300 aircraft prepares to land at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara on August 1, 2024, as Turkish authorities anounced that 26 prisoners have been exchanged with Russia and West. Turkey has coordinated in Ankara an exchange of twenty-six prisoners between Russia and several Western countries, including the American journalist Evan Gershkovich, the Turkish Presidency announced. (Photo by CAGLAR / AFP) (Photo by CAGLAR/AFP via Getty Images)
A total of eight people including Krasikov were swapped back to Russia in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including four Americans. In addition to Whelan and Gershkovich, prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a US permanent resident, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were also freed.
“Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close US partners and allies working together,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday.
President Joe Biden gathered the families of Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and Kara-Murza at the White House on Thursday to relay the news that their loved ones were heading home, Sullivan said.
Sullivan described the negotiations as “painstaking,” and made all the more complicated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and “the overall degradation of our relations with Russia.” The negotiations, which initially focused on securing the release of Paul Whelan, were made even more difficult when the Russians detained Gershkovich and Kurmasheva.
“It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals without an exchange that included Vadim Krasikov, a Russian criminal who was in German custody, not someone we could offer ourselves,” Sullivan said. “That required extensive diplomatic engagement with our German counterparts starting at the top with the President himself, who worked this issue directly with Chancellor Scholz.”
Aircraft are parked on the tarmac at Ankara Esenboga Airport following a major US-Russia prisoner exchange coordinated with the Turkish government on August 1, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey.
Aircraft are parked on the tarmac at Ankara Esenboga Airport following a major US-Russia prisoner exchange coordinated with the Turkish government on August 1, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images
Krasikov was convicted of the murder in 2019 of the former Chechen fighter Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in Berlin. The German court that convicted him in 2021 said he acted on behalf of the Russian state, shooting his victim “execution style” in broad daylight.
Khangoshvili fought against Russian forces during the Chechen wars and later relocated to Georgia, where he survived several assassination attempts. Wanted in Russia on terror charges, he was a particular thorn in the side of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and close ally of Putin.
Putin hinted at his interest in bringing Krasikov back, telling the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in February that “an agreement can be reached” to release a man whom he said “eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals” motivated by “patriotic reasons.” Germany did not comment at the time.
The number of people Germany is getting in exchange for Krasikov – five German nationals and seven Russian opposition figures – is indicative of the severity of his crime and his high profile.
Who was freed in major prisoner swap between Russia and the West?
Among the Germans returning home is Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death in Belarus in July after being charged with terrorism and mercenary activities. Krieger was pardoned by the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko this week.
The Russian dissidents released by Russia as part of the deal include several high-profile activists – Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin, the former head of the Nobel Prize-winning organization “Memorial,” Oleg Orlov, and several former staffers from the anti-corruption foundation of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny.
Rumors of a possible imminent swap began circulating earlier this week, when several of the Russian dissidents, including Kara-Murza, went missing from their prison colonies, with their lawyers and families raising alarm.
“Other nations were also critical to securing this deal – Norway, Slovenia and Poland all had custody of additional Russians included in this exchange,” Sullivan said. “We also are deeply grateful to Turkey for providing the critical logistic support that has made this deal possible.”
US officials engaged in months of quiet conversations with the German counterparts about the possibility of releasing Krasikov. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised it with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a G7 meeting in April 2023, but she was not on board, according to a US official familiar with the matter. Sullivan also repeatedly raised it with his counterpart.
Biden then brought the conversations to the highest level in the German system: Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Over a phone call in January Biden told him that discussing a trade with Russia that included Krasikov would be an item that he planned to discuss with the German leader in their upcoming White House meeting. When they discussed the matter in February in the Oval office the Biden administration felt that things were moving in the right direction, a second administration official said.
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https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/01/politics/russia-us-prisoner-swap/index.html
