Russia Frees Wall Reporter Street Journal Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a major prisoner swap with the United States.
Bloomberg reports this, citing people familiar with the situation.
Gershkovich and Whelan were released from imprisonment in the Russian Federation
According to the agency's sources, Gershkovich and Whelan are currently en route to destinations outside of Russia.
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As part of the agreement, the United States and its allies will return the prisoners they are holding to Russia.
Further details of the exchange have not yet been disclosed.
— The Wall Street Journal reports that its reporter will return to the United States tomorrow as part of the prisoner swap, — the news anchor said on the channel around midnight on July 31 local time.
Radio Liberty previously reported that several Russians convicted of crimes in the United States had disappeared from the American prison database. In particular, the following individuals were mentioned:
- Vladislav Klyushin, a contractor for Russian security ministries, convicted of insider stock trading;
- Alexander Vinnik, convicted of laundering $4 billion through crypto exchanges;
- Maxim Marchenko, convicted of evading US sanctions against Russia;
- Roman Seleznev, son of Russian State Duma deputy Valery Seleznev, convicted of cyber fraud.
In recent days, world media have written that signs of preparation for a potential major prisoner exchange have been noticed between several Western countries and Russia, as well as Belarus.
In particular, it was said that the United States, Germany, Slovenia and Great Britain were involved in such a potential exchange.
Recall that the arrest of Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg became known on March 30, 2023. The FSB of the Russian Federation accused the journalist of espionage and collecting classified information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.
