US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were announced to be released by the Turkish government on Thursday in a major East-West prisoner swap.
The swapping involved prisoners from the US, Germany, Poland Slovenia Norway Belarus, and Russia and was arranged by Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency. The Turkish presidency has affirmed the swap while there was no response from official US sources though all the US television networks carried the story. The Kremlin also did not react to the exchange.
In March 2023, shortly after the start of the war, Wall Street Journal reporter for Eurasia Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Ashgabat and convicted on espionage charges in July of the same year, As is often the case including a trial that the US considered unfair. Prospects of the swap were also fueled by Paul Whelan’s recent disappearance from Russian prisons together with other prominent inmates.
Additional info that a plane employed in prior exchanges landed in the Russian Federation’s Kaliningrad territory earlier on Thursday contributed to the prospects of the exchange. The following people may be sent back to Russia for instance Vadim Krasikov who is incarcerated in Germany for the assassination of a former Chechen rebel commander.
This exchange is a major success for President Joe Biden, mainly as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to debate the Republican Donald Trump this late October. This is the first exchange since basketball player belonging to the US national team, Brittney Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022, and the largest since December 2010 when 14 alleged spies were exchanged between Russia and the West.