In what some are calling the largest prisoner exchange since World War II, Russia traded 16 hostages from Western countries for 10 of its own, two of whom were minors, on Thursday afternoon in Ankara. The swap was apparently coordinated by Turkey’s
National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
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There had been rumors of a possible exchange for several weeks suggesting that discussions between the White House and the Kremlin via intermediaries were ongoing, but the details were held close to both sides’ chests. There had been no public announcement of where and when it would take place until the aircraft landed in Turkey’s capital.
There was earlier speculation that an exchange had been agreed in February that would include Alexei Navalny but was called off after the Russian opposition politician’s sudden death in prison.
Who was released by Russia?
According to the Independent Russian news site The Insider Russia has released the following:
Evan Gershkovich: the Wall Street Journal journalist was sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for espionage.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: activist held since April 2022 sentenced to 25 years in prison for spreading “fake news,” collaborating with undesirable organizations and treason.
Lilia Chanysheva: involved with Alexei Navalny’s FBK organization, found guilty in June 2023, of creating an extremist community, calling for extremism and creating an organization that violates the rights of citizens.
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Ilya Yashin: sentenced to 8.5 years in a general regime colony in December 2022 for disseminating “fakes” about the Russian army.
Ksenia Fadeeva: the former head of Navalny's headquarters in Tomsk was sentenced to 9 years in prison in December 2023 on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist community that infringed the rights of [Russian] citizens.
Andrey Pivovarov: sentenced to 4 years in prison and banned from using social media or engaging in political activities in July 2022 for a series of Facebook posts considered critical of the regime.
Paul Whelan: former US marine sentenced to 16 years for espionage in June 2020 after being arrested on arrival in Russia to attend a friend’s wedding.
Alsou Kurmashev: holder of dual US / Russian citizenship who was detained in June 2023 while visiting Russia for failing to declare herself as a “foreign agent” and for illegally holding two passports.
Oleg Orlov: the 70-year-old human rights activist and Chairman of Memorial was sentenced to 2.5 years imprisonment for “rehabilitating nazism” and threatened with being sent to the war in Ukraine, the culmination of almost two decades of harassment.
Alexandra “Sasha” Skochilenko: sentenced to 7 years in November 2023 for passing “fake” information after replacing price tags in retail goods with messages concerning those killed in the March 16, 2022, bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater.
Demuri “Dieter” Voronin: political scientist with dual Russian / German citizenship sentenced to 13 years and 3 months for treason in March 2023 accused of passing information to German intelligence relating to Russian armed forces activities in Syria.
Kevin Leake: 18-year-old with dual Russian / German citizenship sentenced to 4 years in December 2023 for sending photographs of military deployment by e-mail to a “representative of a foreign state.”
Rico Krieger: a former medic with the German Red Cross sentenced to death in Bealrus as a terrorist (pardoned by President Alexander Lukashenko on July 30, 2024).
Patrick Shebel: the citizen of Germany had been held awaiting trial since January 2024 after being found in possession of six “gummies” containing marijuana.
Herman Moizhes: lawyer and environmentalist with Russian / German citizenship charged with treason for unknown actions after being arrested in St. Petersburg in May.
Vadim Ostanin: the former head of Navalny's Barnaul headquarters sentenced to 9 years in July 2023 on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist community that infringed the rights of [Russian] citizens.
Which Russians were released?
Vadim Krasikov: FSB assassin sentenced to life for the 2019contract killing of Chechen refugee Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin – released by Germany.
Artem & Anna Dultsev: employees of Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) posing as Argentinian nationals, arrested in Ljubljana in late 2022 -released along with two children by Slovenia.
Mikhail Mikushin: a Russian military intelligence (GRU) officer posing as a Brazilian citizen working at the Norwegian University of Tromsø, was arrested in May 2022. – released by Norway.
Pavel Rubtsov: another Russian military intelligence (GRU) officer posing as Spanish journalist was detained on the Polish-Ukrainian border on February 27, 2022 (three days after the full-scale invasion) – released by Poland.
Roman Seleznev: a Russian hacker sentenced to 27 years in 2018 for computer fraud and identity theft with estimated $169 million obtained by cloned credit cards – released by US.
Vladislav Klyushin: a Russian businessman sentenced to 9 years in prison in September 2023 for insider trading which earned him over $90 million – released by the US.
Vadim Konoshchenok: an FSB colonel responsible for illegally exporting high-tech equipment from the US to Russia via EU countries said to be worth over 6 billion rubles ($ 70 million), arrested in Estonia in November 2022 and extradited to the US – released by the US.
Announcing the exchange a spokesperson for Turkey’s MIT stated: “Our organization has undertaken a major mediation role in the most comprehensive exchange operation of recent times.”
The Deputy Chairman of Turkey’s ruling AK Party Ömer Çelik said in a statement on social media “In a period when regional and world peace is in danger, Turkey's role has become much more important.”
He went on to say: “Thanks to the strong intelligence diplomacy of our MİT Presidency, 26 individuals in prisons of seven countries were exchanged in Ankara. This… has once again demonstrated Turkey's capacity to focus on negotiation and peace.”
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