US journalist Evan Gershkovich released in prisoner swap with Russia
Journalist Evan Gershkovich has been released in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Bloomberg reports. The US journalist was recently sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for espionage.
Insiders said the release was part of a large-scale prisoner exchange between the two countries. Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was also accused of spying in Russia, has also been released.
The two are on their way to a destination outside Russia, Bloomberg reported. Russian prisoners in the US and other Western countries will be freed in exchange for their release, but no further details have been given.
The Kremlin has previously indicated that Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder of a Chechen-Georgian dissident, will be released as part of the prisoner swap.
The US has been negotiating the release of Gershkovich and Whelan for years. The State Department has always maintained that they were wrongly imprisoned.
Gershkovich, 32, who covered Russia for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested by Russian security services in March 2023 on suspicion of spying for the US. Whelan, 54, has been detained in Russia since late 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 on espionage charges.
Rumours of an imminent prisoner swap have been circulating for some time. In recent days, at least five Russian dissidents have been transferred from Russian prisons to unknown destinations. The Kremlin declined to comment on the growing speculation on Thursday morning.
Evan Gershkovich in a glass defendant's box at the Sverdlovsk regional court in Yekaterinburg on 26 June 2024 © PHOTO NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP
Related news
