White House officially confirms prisoner swap with Russia

Three American citizens and one green card holder, unjustly imprisoned in Russia, will come back to the US within the agreement on the prisoner swap between Moscow and the West.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the statement by the White House

Details: The statement on behalf of US President Joe Biden says that within the agreement the release of 16 people from Russia, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were “political prisoners in their own country”, was negotiated.

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Moreover, Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter; Paul Whelan, a marine; Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist; and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dissident who has British-Russian citizenship and a green card, will come back to the US.

Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, Paul Whelan. Free! pic.twitter.com/NCuSAbjOxc

— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) August 1, 2024

Biden thanked Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Türkiye for their participation in the liberation of the prisoners.

“This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer,” he added.

Updated: Later, Biden posted a photo of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as Marine Paul Whelan, who were released from Russia as part of the exchange.

“After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families,” the US president tweeted.

After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families. pic.twitter.com/1rYNBTt9tJ

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 1, 2024

Background: 

• In recent days, the media have noticed signs of a potential major prisoner swap between several Western countries and Russia and Belarus. The United States, Germany, Slovenia and the United Kingdom were reported to be involved in this potential swap.
• On 1 August, the National Intelligence Organisation of Türkiye (MIT) said that the “most ambitious prisoner exchange in recent years” between Russia and Western nations took place in Ankara. The swap involved prisoners held in the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus.
• As part of the exchange, Vadim Krasikov, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who had been serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in a Berlin park, was released in Germany, which caused disappointment in the German prosecutor’s office.

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