(Updated: )
Editor's note: This is a developing story.
Turkey's National Intelligence Organization confirmed on Aug. 1 that 26 prisoners had been exchanged by Russia and the West. The exchange was carried out in Ankara.
As part of the operation, 10 prisoners were transferred to Russia, 13 prisoners were transported to Germany, and three were handed over to the U.S, the National Intelligence Organization said, as cited by the Turkish media outlet TRT Haber.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were released by Russia in a multi-country prisoner exchange, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed.
Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza was also released as part of the swap.
Turkey confirmed its role as mediators in a prisoner exchange involving 26 people from seven countries — U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus — Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) said.
The prisoners were transported to Ankara by a total of seven aircraft, according to MIT.
"This operation has been recorded in history as the most extensive prisoner exchange between the United States, Russia, and Germany in recent years," the statement read.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods, as well as Russian citizens' views on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Following more than a year of pretrial detention, Gershkovich's trial finally began in June, and he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The charges were widely seen as being politically motivated, and Gershkovich plead not guilty. His employer, the Wall Street Journal, denounced the proceedings, as did the U.S.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist with dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, is also among the swapped, the president of RFE/RL Stephen Kapus confirmed. A court in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan sentenced her to six and a half years in jail on a charge of "spreading false information" about Russia's Armed Forces on July 19.
"And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family," Biden said.
The news follows rumors about a planned historic prisoner exchange involving Russia, the U.S., Germany, and Belarus.
Independent Russian media outlet The Insider published a list of 24 prisoners who allegedly will be exchanged. According to it, Russia will hand over 16 people, including opposition figures Lilia Chanysheva, Ilya Yashin, Ksenia Fadeeva, Andrey Pivovarov, human rights activist Oleg Orlov, artist (Demuri) Voronin, Kevin Lik, and German Moyzhes, as well as Patrick Schobel.
On July 30, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko pardoned German citizen Rico Krieger, who is also reportedly among the swapped and had been on death row following a trial in Minsk.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed that Western countries released eight Russians.
The list includes convicted Russian hitman sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany Vadim Krasikov, Mikhail Mikushin and Pavel Rubtsov, accused of spying for Moscow, hacker Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin, businessman jailed for a hack-and-trade scheme, and Vadim Konoshchenok, the Insider reported.
Another two allegedly exchanged Russians on this list, Anna and Artem Dultsevy, were sentenced to 1.7 years in prison for espionage by a court in Slovenia on July 31, the Slovenian N1 TV channel reported. The court also ordered their expulsion from the country.
Several planes involved in transporting the swapped prisoners began arriving at European airports overnight on Aug. 2, CNN reported. One plane landed in Slovenia's Ljubljana Joze Pucnik, while other planes arrived landed in Cologne, Germany and in Warsaw, Poland.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will greet the freed U.S. citizens at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. They are expected to arrive at the base around 11:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House.
Nate Ostiller
