Russia Agrees to Prisoner Swap After Lengthy Negotiations Process
By Kaila Hall
On August 1, 2024, Turkish officials confirmed1 the Russian release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan. The prisoner swap occurred at an airport in Ankara, Turkey. The deal resulted in the release of over 20 previously detained individuals from seven countries, including the US, Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Belarus. Turkey announced that in exchange, Germany released Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian assassin. Russian dissidents Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza were also reportedly released. This was the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia in March 2023 and had been detained for 16 months. On July 19, 2024, he was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony after his conviction on espionage charges. Gershkovich, the son of Soviet-era emigres to the U.S., was born in the United States. His journalism career focused on the region. According to the WSJ, “Evan was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting assignment in the country. He had full press credentials from Russia’s foreign ministry.”2 In April 2023, the U.S. Department of State designated3 Gershkovich as a “U.S. Citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government,” as defined under the “Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.”4 In his recent book In the Shadows, Hostage negotiator Mickey Bergman also describes his efforts to release Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and numerous others.
On June 15, 2020, American Marine veteran Paul Whelan was also convicted on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He served 5 years of that sentence and had been detained for over 2,000 days. On July 19, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order on “Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home.”5 On July 27, 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States had made a “significant offer” to secure professional basketball player Brittney Griner’s release. American news agencies reported that the offer included trading Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Whelan. On December 8, 2022, Griner and fellow American Trevor Reed were released from Russia. Upon Griner and Reed’s releases, Whelan told CNN that he was happy that they were released, but said, “I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four year anniversary of my arrest is coming up.”6
In exchange for Gershkovich, Whelan, and many others, Western countries released Vadim Krasikov, a Russian individual who was serving a life sentence in a German prison for the 2019 killing of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili. The victim, a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent, had claimed asylum in Germany7 and had fought Russian troops in Chechnya. Shortly after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in February 2024, sources close to Navalny announced8 that talks had been taking place to exchange him for Krasikov.
After the prisoner exchange deal was announced, President Biden addressed9 the nation and stated that the “deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship” with American allies. He also announced that the agreement permitted the exchange of four Americans, five Germans, and seven Russian political prisoners. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul also reacted10 to the deal, saying: “I am thrilled Evan, Paul, Alsu, Vladimir, and many others who have been illegally held by Putin’s regime are finally coming home to their families. But I remain concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking by his regime.”
Kaila Hall is an intern at IELR. She is a rising senior at Cornell University.
[1] Anton Troianovski, M.M. and B.H. (2024) Live updates: Russia releases Evan Gershkovich in sweeping prisoner swap, Turkish officials say, The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/08/01/world/russia-prisoner-swap-us.
[2] Wall Street Journal (2024) Follow updates on Evan Gershkovich, WSJ reporter detained in Russia — #istandwithevan, Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/news/evan-gershkovich
[3] Michael Crowley (2023) The State Department declares Evan Gershkovich ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia., The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/world/europe/evan-gershkovich-russia-hostage-detained.html
[4] Bob Menendez, (2019) S.712 – Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, Congress.gov. www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/712.
[5] Joseph Biden, (2022) Executive order on bolstering efforts to bring hostages and wrongfully detained United States Nationals Home, The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/07/19/executive-order-on-bolstering-efforts-to-bring-hostages-and-wrongfully-detained-united-states-nationals-home/
[6] Jennifer Hansler. (2022) Exclusive: Paul Whelan tells CNN he is ‘disappointed’ that more has not been done to secure his release | CNN politics, CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/politics/paul-whelan-cnn-interview-brittney-griner/index.html
[7] Elise Morton. (2024) Who is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian jailed in Germany and linked to a possible prisoner exchange?, AP News. https://apnews.com/article/vadim-krasikov-navalny-prisoner-swap-russia-germany-db84e1f39b8c5dc0cbeedf3bcd22860c
[8] Dasha Latvinova. (2024) Navalny aides say the Russian opposition leader was close to being freed before his death, AP News.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-navalny-prison-death-swap-ce214909b1088a1d67fa9cd323864f50
[9] The Associated Press, (2024) Live updates: US and Russia complete biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, freeing Gershkovich and Whelan, AP News.
https://apnews.com/live/updates-wall-street-journal-evan-gershkovich-prisoner-swap
[10] Michael McCaul. (2024) Chairman McCaul on reported prisoner swap bringing wrongfully detained Americans Home, Committee on Foreign Affairs. https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-mccaul-on-reported-prisoner-swap-bringing-wrongfully-detained-americans-home/