Who Were Released in the Extensive Prisoner Exchange Between Russia and the West?

The prisoners released in the agreement between the United States and its allies on one side and Russia on the other are a diverse group. One has been imprisoned for five and a half years, while another has only been in Russian prisons for a few months. Some are journalists or political activists with a history, while others were imprisoned simply for opposing the war in Ukraine. The youngest among them is 19 years old, and the oldest is 71. Among the Russian prisoners released from European and American jails are an individual accused of espionage, individuals accused of hacking internet networks, and another who murdered a Chechen citizen in broad daylight in Berlin. In total, these individuals, 26 from seven different countries, were released on Thursday, August 11, through Turkish mediation in the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. The released prisoners include: Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist arrested last spring in Yekaterinburg, Russia, accused of 'gathering secret information for the CIA.' Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government have strongly denied the charges. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison last month following a closed trial. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and security director for an American company in Michigan, was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges while attending a friend's wedding in Moscow and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020. Whelan, 54, has always denied the charges against him as fabricated. Alsou Kurmashova, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir section, was arrested at Kazan airport while returning from Russia after visiting her sick mother. The 47-year-old journalist, who holds both Russian and American citizenship, was accused of failing to register her dual citizenship and being considered a 'foreign agent,' with additional charges of 'spreading false information about the Russian army' added later. She was sentenced to six and a half years in prison last month. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual citizen of Russia and Britain and a prominent Kremlin critic, was arrested for criticizing the military invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023 for 'treason' and other crimes. He received the Pulitzer Prize this year as a columnist for the Washington Post. Kara-Murza, who became seriously ill due to fatal poisonings in 2015 and 2017, has blamed the Kremlin for these attacks. Ilya Yashin, a well-known critic of the Russian government, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine. He is a former member of the Moscow City Council and one of the few Kremlin critics who remained in Russia after the military invasion of Ukraine began. Andrei Pivovarov, the head of the opposition group 'Open Russia,' was arrested in 2021 just before flying abroad and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2022 for 'activities for an undesirable organization.' Oleg Orlov, one of the most veteran human rights activists in Russia, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in February this year for opposing the war in Ukraine and 'discrediting the Russian army.' Orlov, 71, is one of the leaders of the human rights group 'Memorial,' which received the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago. Sasha Skochelinco, 33, was sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2033 for posting anti-war slogans on price tags of several products in a supermarket. Ksenia Fadyeva, Lilia Chanisheva, and Edim Ostanin were coordinators of regional offices of the political organization and anti-corruption group led by Alexei Navalny. They were arrested in late 2021 after the organization was declared illegal and each was sentenced to nine years in prison for 'extremism.' Kevin Lake, 19, a dual Russian-German citizen, was arrested in February 2023 in southern Russia and accused of 'photographing a military unit and sending them to agents of foreign countries.' He was sentenced to four years in prison for 'treason' in court. Human rights groups say he is the youngest person ever convicted of this crime. Rico Krieger, a German medical employee, was tried for terrorism in Belarus in June this year and sentenced to death. Alexander Lukashenko, the autocratic president of Belarus, pardoned him on Tuesday, August 9. Damori Voronin, a dual Russian-German citizen, a political science professor, and director of a political consulting institute, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2023 for espionage. He was accused of providing information about the Russian army that Ivan Safronov had given him to the German security agency. Patrick Schuebel, a German citizen, was arrested in February 2024 at St. Petersburg airport. The Russian police and prosecutor's office say that a gum containing psychoactive cannabis was discovered in his personal belongings. He was accused of drug trafficking and spent the last six months in prison. German Moises, a dual Russian-German citizen and immigration lawyer, was reportedly helping Russian citizens obtain residence permits in the European Union. He was arrested in May 2024 in St. Petersburg and is said to have been accused of 'treason.' Little information is available about his case. The individuals released by Western countries include Vadim Krasykov, identified by the German government as an agent of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who was tried in 2021 for the murder of a Chechen citizen in Georgia and sentenced to life imprisonment. German judges stated in their ruling that Russian security agencies ordered the murder. Germany expelled two Russian diplomats due to the murder ordered by the Kremlin. Pavel Rubtsov was arrested in Poland on charges of espionage for Russia. He is one of several Russian citizens arrested in Poland on charges of espionage for Russia since the beginning of the military invasion of Ukraine. Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian legislator, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2017 for hacking the computer systems of over 500 economic institutions, stealing information from millions of credit cards, and selling it on criminal websites, along with paying $170 million in damages to the victims. Vladislav Klyushin, a wealthy businessman with ties to the Kremlin, was sentenced to nine years in prison in the U.S. in 2023 for defrauding about $100 million in financial transactions using information stolen from computer networks in the U.S. Prosecutors stated that he personally pocketed $33 million in this fraud. Klyushin was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to the U.S. in 2021. Vadim Konushchenok, suspected of being a member of the Russian Federal Security Service, was arrested in Estonia and handed over to the U.S. last year, awaiting trial for trafficking ammunition and dual-use equipment to Russia. The U.S. prosecutor's office stated that he was arrested in 2022 while carrying over 30 types of microchips and other electronic components while traveling from Estonia to Russia. Artem Dolgotev and Anna Dolgoteva, a Russian couple arrested in Slovenia in 2022 on espionage charges, accepted their crimes on Wednesday, August 10, and were released after spending 19 months in prison. The couple, who posed as Argentine citizens, were accused of using Slovenia as a base for traveling to neighboring countries and contacting other undercover Russian spies in the region.