Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan to be released in..US-RUS prisoner exchange

Source: The Hill | August 1, 2024 | 08/01/24

Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan to be released in massive US-Russia prisoner exchange

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. marine Paul Whelan are expected to be released in a historic prisoner exchange with Russia, a U.S. official confirmed to The Hill.

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Whelan was arrested in 2018 and later convicted of spying, charges that he, his family and the U.S. deny. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The U.S. government designated him “wrongfully detained” but had failed to secure his release in earlier prisoner exchanges that saw the release of American Trevor Reed and WNBA star Brittney Griner, who were released in separate exchanges in 2022.

Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of collecting state secrets on the Russian military on behalf of the U.S. government. He became the first American journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War and was sentenced in July to 16 years in prison.

Bloomberg was the first to report on the release, citing unnamed sources. 

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Bloomberg also reported that Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. resident and husband to an American citizen, is also part of the exchange. Kara-Murza is a prominent Russian opposition politician who was arrested in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military related to its war in Ukraine.

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