INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A historic prisoner swap is underway between Russia and the West, leading Western media reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar
journalist Evan Gershkovich, ex-U.S
Marine Paul Whelan, Russian-U.K
opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza and Russian-U.S
journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were freed in the exchange at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reported.The exchange is
believed to include over a dozen more journalists, dissidents and other political prisoners released from Russia in exchange for Russians
This article will be updated as more information is made public.How many prisoners will be freed?The Moscow Times' partner outlet
Politika.Kozlov reported late Wednesday that Russia may be preparing to free between 20 and 30 political prisoners and journalists in an
political prisoners held in Russia are expected to be released to Germany and eight Russian nationals are expected to be returned to
Russia.Who is being freed from Russia?Evan GershkovichGershkovich, 32, a Wall Street Journal correspondent and former Moscow Times reporter,
government strongly denied.He was arrested in March 2023 during a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and spent nearly 16
months in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison before being sentenced to a "strict-regime colony."Vladimir Kara-MurzaRussian-British
opposition politician Kara-Murza, 42, is among those being freed on Thursday, Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous European
official.Kara-Murza was serving a 25-year prison sentence for treason and other charges for his criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
and calls to Western countries to impose sanctions against the Kremlin.His family and supporters have raised alarm over his health, which is
hospitalized in July.Paul WhelanWhelan, 54, is a former U.S
been widely criticized by the U.S
government and international human rights organizations, who argue that the charges are politically motivated.Russia reportedly refused to
release Whelan along with Brittney Griner as part of a prisoner exchange in 2022
President Joe Biden said at the time that Russia was treating Whelan's case differently "for totally illegitimate reasons."Alsu
KurmashevaKurmasheva, 47, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen who works for the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) news outlet, was arrested
was sentenced in a secret hearing on the same day that Gershkovich was sentenced.Other namesThe investigative outlet The Insider reported
from the West?Vadim KrasikovAccording to CBS, Krasikov, a Russian citizen serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a
former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin, is among the prisoners expected to be returned to Russia
German authorities said the assassination was ordered by Russian intelligence services.In an interview with conservative U.S
context of a possible prisoner exchange.Ludwig Gisch and Maria Rosa Mayer MunosTwo Russian nationals going by the names of Ludwig Gisch and
Russian names are Artyom and Anna Dultsev, pleaded guilty on charges of "spying and falsifying documents," the Ljubljana regional court said
in a statement.The two Russians, who are both about 40 years old and hold Argentinian passports, were detained in 2022 over alleged spying
for Moscow, media reported
the Russians slated to be freed by the West.Where will the swap be held?Russian media reported that a Gulfstream business jet from Slovenia,
where Artyom and Anna Dultsev had been sentenced after pleading guilty to espionage on Wednesday, has landed in Turkey.The U.S.-Russian
Turkish news agency Ihlas Haber Ajansi (IHA).Turkey's NTV news channel is airing live footage of two Russian planes purported to be carrying
some of the prisoners at Ankara's airport.
