Russia Frees WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich And Ex-Marine Paul Whelan In Major Prisoner Swap With US

In a significant development, Russia has released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, as part of a major prisoner exchange with the U.S.

What Happened: The two men, who were imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges refuted by both the individuals and the US, are currently en route to locations outside of Russia. As part of the agreement, the U.S. and its allies will return prisoners they hold to Russia, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The Kremlin is also releasing Vladimir Kara-Murza, a critic of President Vladimir Putin’s rule and a dual Russian-British citizen, who was sentenced to a record 25-year prison term last year on charges of treason and other offenses related to his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Details of the prisoner exchange are yet to be disclosed.

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Why It Matters: The release of Gershkovich and Whelan comes after a series of events that have unfolded over the past few months. Gershkovich was arrested 15 months ago while on a reporting assignment for The Wall Street Journal in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, an industrial hub about 900 miles east of Moscow. Both he and the newspaper have denied these accusations. He was convicted last month and sentenced to 16 years, marking the first time since the Cold War that a US reporter has been tried for espionage in Russia.

Later in June, the Kremlin confirmed that discussions were underway with the United States regarding a potential prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that these discussions should be kept confidential.

Furthermore, Russia and Ukraine conducted their first prisoner swap in almost four months in May, with the United Arab Emirates acting as a mediator.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari