As a result of the prisoner exchange between the Russian Federation and Western countries, 16 people have returned from Russia.
Three American citizens and one green card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia are returning to the United States. This happened as part of the prisoner exchange agreement between Moscow and the West.
The information was officially announced by the White House.
As stated in a statement on behalf of US President Joe Biden, as part of the agreement, it was possible to agree on the release of 16 people from Russia, including five German citizens and seven Russians, “who were political prisoners in their own country.”
In particular, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, US Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Alsa Kurmysheva and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has British-Russian citizenship and a green card, will return to the United States.
Biden thanked for participating in negotiations to release prisoners in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey.
“This is a shining example of why it is vital to have friends in this world that you can trust and rely on. Our alliances make Americans safer,” he added.
Recall that earlier on August 1, Bloomberg reported that Russia had released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Hershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a large prisoner swap from the United States.
The prisoner swap was overseen by the Turkish intelligence agency, which provided security, planned logistics and coordinated the exchange of information between the parties. A total of seven countries participated in the operation.
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