American journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, smiles inside a glass defendant cage before a hearing at the Sverdlovsk District Court in Yekaterinburg on June 26, 2024.
Natalia Kolesnikova | AFP | Getty Images
A prisoner exchange is underway between the U.S. Russiaand other countries said on Thursday that Senior Biden Administration Officials Official.
The trade is a rare example of cooperation amid heightened political tensions between the United States and Russia, including sanctions against Russia and Russian officials over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. elections and its annexation of Crimea.
The most high-profile known U.S. prisoner currently in Russia is a Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and previous Paul Whelan, U.S. Marine Corps. It has not yet been confirmed whether they are part of the exchange.
Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 and convicted by a Russian court earlier this year. Sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
Whelan, 54, who has been detained since traveling to Russia in 2018 to attend a friend’s wedding, was also convicted of espionage and has been serving a 16-year sentence in a penal colony.
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