The United States and Russia have made their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history. Moscow on Thursday released U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza in a multinational deal officials say has set two dozen people free. The trade follows years of back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russia invaded Ukraine. Among those the Russians got back is Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park. President Joe Biden is heralding the diplomatic achievement in the final months of his administration.
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Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been convicted of espionage charges that his employer and the U.S. vehemently reject. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a secretive and rapid trial in the country's highly politicized legal system. The conclusion of the trial could potentially clear the way for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. The publisher of the Journal called it a "disgraceful, sham conviction." Gershkovich, his head shaved, looked calm as he stood in a defendants' cage in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court and listened impassively to the verdict. When the judge asked if he understood it, the journalist replied yes. After the verdict was read, someone in court shouted, "Evan, we love you!"
Russian officials say U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich, jailed in Russia for over a year on espionage charges, will stand trial in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Russia's Prosecutor General's office said Thursday an indictment of the Wall Street Journal reporter has been finalized and his case was filed to a regional court. It says Gershkovich is accused of "gathering secret information" for the CIA about a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produces and repairs military equipment, revealing for the first time the details of the accusations against the jailed reporter. Gershkovich has been charged with espionage. The officials didn't provide any evidence to back up the accusations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets. His remarks Wednesday came after he warned Germany that the use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia would mark a "dangerous step." Germany joined the United States recently in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying. The deliveries of German tanks to Ukraine came as a shock to many in Russia, Putin also said nothing will change in Russia-U.S. relations regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins the American presidential election in November.
