Biden administration secures prisoner swap with Russia, freeing Evan Gershkovich and others

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva will be released from Russia in a prisoner exchange that was announced Thursday, according to senior officials in the Biden administration, CBS News reported.

Gershkovich and Whelan were imprisoned on espionage charges that were broadly seen as fabricated. Kurmasheva was detained on charges of ostensibly spreading false information about the Russian army.

The Wall Street Journal reporter was taken into Russian custody while on assignment in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court in July following a rushed trial that the U.S. denounced as a “scam.”

Whelan was arrested during his travels in Russia to attend a friend’s wedding in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

Vladimir Kara-Murza is also a part of the agreement, according to a European official, Bloomberg reported. Kara-Murza, an activist with a dual Russian-British citizenship has been a campaigner against President Vladimir Putin for quite some time. She was given a record 25-year prison sentence on treason and other charges for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in April 2023.

It is not yet clear what prisoners the U.S. has offered to hand over to Russia as part of the deal. However, CNN reported that three Russian nationals serving federal prison sentences were transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in apparent preparation for a swap.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking last month at the Aspen Security Forum, said that the Biden administration was “determined” to make a deal with Russia happen, CBS News reported.

"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," Sullivan said, referring to Gerkshovich

In May, Donald Trump — who enjoys warm relations with the Russian president — claimed that Gershkovich would only be released if he won the 2024 election. The GOP candidate made his assertion in a late-night Truth Social post, writing: "Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else."