Chimes of Freedom Flashing: Russia Releases Journalist Evan Gershkovich and Former Marine Paul Whelan in Historic Prisoner Swap With U.S.
Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden agreed on a deal that would see Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan freed from Russian captivity.
Aug. 1 2024, Published 12:30 p.m. ET
Russia has agreed to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in a historic multi-country prisoner swap.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Gershkovich, 32, and Whelan, 54, are set to be freed alongside 22 other adults incarcerated in seven different countries.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed the prisoner swap was taking place on Thursday morning.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, 47, confirmed the news on Thursday, saying: “This morning, the president is gathering the families of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza at the White House to share with them the news that an exchange is underway to secure the release of their loved ones from Russia.”
Kurmasheva and Kara-Murza, like Gershkovich and Whelan, were imprisoned by Russia after being found guilty of what many described as trumped-up charges.
Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested in the Russian city of Kazan on October 18, 2023, and charged with failure to register as a foreign agent.
She was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in July for spreading false information about the Russian army.
Critics accused Vladimir Putin of arresting the Americans on trumped-up charges amid the rising political tensions between Russia and the West.
Kara-Murza, 42, was sentenced to 25 years in jail in April 2023 for charges linked to his criticism of the war in Ukraine.
The massive deal between Russia and the West, which was cut among seven countries, also reportedly includes 12 German nationals.
Eight Russians imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland are also reportedly set to be freed as part of the exchange.
Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan are perhaps two of the most famous Americans to be arrested and sentenced to incarceration in Russia in recent years – especially after WNBA star Brittney Griner, 33, was freed from Russian custody in December 2022 after ten months in captivity.
The massive prisoner exchange comes after WNBA star Brittney Griner was freed from Russian captivity in December 2022.
Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested on espionage charges in December 2018 while traveling in Russia to attend a wedding. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
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Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was arrested in March 2023 while reporting in Yekaterinburg – an industrial city east of Moscow. He was convicted of espionage in July and later sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The historic prisoner exchange took place at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, according to The New York Times.
President Biden is meeting with Gershkovich and Whelan's families as the two Russian prisoners are returned home to the U.S.
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Thursday’s prisoner swap also came just days after Sullivan discussed the matter during the Aspen Security Forum on July 19. He insisted President Joe Biden’s administration was “determined” to make a deal happen.
The U.S. national security advisor said: “I will consider it one of the most important things between now and the end of the year, and especially now at the end of the month, for us to try to get something done where we can get him home.”
Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, whose office played a key role in the prisoner swap negotiations, also said last month: “I know Evan and Paul will come home to the United States and step onto U.S. soil.”
He added: “I just don't know when.”
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