US to release Russian citizen in exchange for Fogel 'in coming days,' Kremlin claims
Washington agreed to release a Russian national held in a U.S. prison after Moscow freed American citizen Marc Fogel, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the pro-state Russian news agency Interfax reported on Feb. 12.
"A Russian citizen will return to Russia in the coming days," Peskov said without revealing his identity.
Fogel, a schoolteacher detained at a Russian airport in 2021 for possessing medical marijuana, was flown out of Russia on Feb. 11 by U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for agreeing to the deal and called it a step toward brokering a peace deal in Ukraine. The U.S. president did not reveal what Moscow would receive in return, saying only that the Russian side did not ask for "much."
When asked by a journalist whether the Russian citizen involved in the exchange is Alexander Vinnik, a suspected cybercriminal detained in Greece in 2017, Peskov declined to confirm and said the name would be announced once the individual was in Russia.
The Kremlin's spokesperson did not provide further details about the talks between Washington and Moscow but noted that the contacts have intensified over the past few days.
The U.S. and Russia have carried out a number of prisoner exchanges over the past few years, with the most notable one taking place in August 2024.
At the time, the Biden administration negotiated the release of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, ex-Marine Paul Whelan, and a number of Russian opposition figures in exchange for spies, assassins, and cyber-criminals held in the West.
Martin Fornusek
