U.S. / Russia Prisoner Swap: Americans Held By Russia Freed
[guest post by Dana]
The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been freed from Russian custody as part of a major exchange that also involved the freeing of several other foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners.
In the exchange, which took place at Ankara airport on Thursday afternoon, eight Russians held in the west returned to Russia. Among them was the Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov, who has been held in a German prison since 2019 for the murder of a Chechen exile in Berlin.
Additionally, deep-cover Russian “illegal” spies arrested in Norway and Slovenia were swapped, along with Russians held on criminal charges in US jails. Two minors were also returned to Russia, believed to be the children of the spies jailed in Slovenia.
CNN just posted this list of the released prisoners on both sides:
The three US citizens and one legal permanent resident returning home from Russia, include:
Journalist Evan Gershkovich
Former US Marine Paul Whelan
Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva
Prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a US resident.
The 12 German nationals and Russian political prisoners who will return to Germany, comprise:Dieter Voronin,
Kevin Lick,
Rico Krieger,
Patrick Schoebel,
Herman Moyzhes,
Ilya Yashin,
Liliya Chanysheva,
Kseniya Fadeyeva,
Vadim Ostanin,
Andrey Pivovarov,
Oleg Orlov,
Sasha Skochilenko
The released Russians are:Vadim Krasikov — released from Germany
Artem Viktorovich Dultsev — released from Slovenia
Anna Valerevna Dultseva — released from Slovenia
Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin — released from Norway
Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov — released from Norway
Roman Seleznev — released from the US
Vladislav Klyushin — released from the US
Vadim Konoshchenock — released from the US
Sir Bill Browder’s statement on the release:
BREAKING: Vladimir Kara-Murza has been released from Russian prison.
Today marks the end of a 843 day nightmare for Russian-British citizen and Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, his family and close friends.
Vladimir publicly protested Putin’s war of aggression…
— Sir William Browder KCMG (@Billbrowder) August 1, 2024
From President Biden’s statement on the release of the Americans held by Russia:
And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family. My Administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office. Still, too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones, and I have no higher priority as President than bringing those Americans home.
Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.
Also from President Biden’s statement:
I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome— including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.
The President is so right that the U.S. needs its allies across the world, and that these relationships must be maintained. A great example of that is the fact that Norway released a prisoner to Russia with no one in exchange. In an ever-changing world, there is too much at stake to alienate or turn away from our friends because of petty or personal reasons.
A big congratulations to the Biden administration for seeing this through.
Oh. And this: Hardest hit: Mr. Donald-Putin-will-do-that-for-me-but-not-for-anyone-else-Trump.
–Dana
This is such wonderful news!
Dana (801de5) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:00 amWhy were these people being held?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:02 amSorry. I meant to quote the list of Russians.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:03 amAs the history of Israeli prisoner swaps has demonstrated, exchanging prisoners, particularly when the exchanges benefit the the terrorist hostage takers, will only encourage more hostage taking.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:10 amSource
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:20 amAn interesting question is why did Putin make the deal now, and not just wait a few months until Trump is reelected? He probably could have made an even better deal.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:34 amBased off of what?
BuDuh (59022b) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:40 amAdded to post: The President is so right that the U.S. needs its allies across the world, and that these relationships must be maintained. A great example of that is the fact that Norway released a prisoner to Russia with no one in exchange. In an ever-changing world, there is too much at stake to alienate or turn away from our friends because of petty or personal reasons.
Dana (801de5) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:42 am7,
I believe Rip Murdock at 6 is being sarcastic.
Dana (801de5) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:44 amThat makes sense, Dana. The non sarcastic version would be that Putin’s deal would have been much worse with Trump.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:46 amHe probably could have made an even better deal.
Maybe Putin has decided that there is a dumber candidate than Trump now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:46 amNo, I’m not being sarcastic-the better deal would have been more Russians released from US custody than the three.
Rip Murdock (48cdd5) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:48 amAnd perhaps US policy changes vis a vis Ukraine or restoring the number of Russian “diplomats” to levels before the Obama administration kicked out 35 over election interference allegations. The US also seized two Russian compounds at the time.
Rip Murdock (a78f1f) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:53 am?
BuDuh (59022b) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:54 amRip Murdock,
Unless you believe Trump’s nonsense about Putin, loving him or respecting him or whatever, why on earth do you think that Trump, if reelected, would have been the better deal maker?
Dana (c28b62) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:56 amNo, Trump could take credit for this, if he wants to, as well as for Khalid Sheik Muhammed’s guilty plea for 9/11 in exchange for no death penalty.
They are all anticipating, or hedging against, Trump being a tougher negotiator.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:56 am15. Trump hates China and China is linked to Russia and others.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:58 am“Oh. And this: Hardest hit: Mr. Donald-Putin-will-do-that-for-me-but-not-for-anyone-else-Trump.”
Putin gets eight of his henchmen in exchange for three Americans and some others wrongly imprisoned, all of whom were innocent and were hostages taken as leverage in exactly this sort of negotiation.
Looks like Biden did something for Putin that no one else would.
lloyd (16ca74) — 8/1/2024 @ 10:17 amNot to speak for Rip, but I think what he means by “better deal” is from Putin’s perspective – not the US’s.
That this release occurred may indicate that Putin thinks Trump will lose.
Sam G (3626e6) — 8/1/2024 @ 10:22 amOr that he wants Trump to lose. He may think that Harris will be more pliable, and/or that Trump may be more effective in opposition sabotaging Harris.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:03 amBy “effective” I mean “more helpful to Putin’s goals, intentionally or not.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:04 amPutin’s long game has the US as polarized and dysfunctional as possible.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:05 amThat’s what happens when you don’t refresh, you put your comment in the wrong thread.
Paul Montagu (179100) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:40 amAs Sam G said, I believe Trump would have given up more for less, in other words Putin would probably have done received a better deal from Trump for the reasons outlined in posts 12 and 13.
Rip Murdock (a78f1f) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:43 amGreat chutzpah by Gershkovich…
Paul Montagu (179100) — 8/1/2024 @ 11:46 amPutin’s long game has the US as polarized and dysfunctional as possible.
I think that those who try to use “Putin” to attack Trump are misleading themselves. Putin wants Trump only as far as it harms America. Trump can do that out of power quite well — witness the last 3 1/2 years. Add to that an incompetent partisan heading the other party and you have a win-win for Putin.
If Harris loses, the Democrats will find a better leader. If Trump loses, the GOP won’t.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 12:23 pmLooking ahead: I hope that we — and our allies — are already collecting hostages for the next round of exchanges. And we shouldn’t forget to do the same for the Mullahs in Iran.
The ChiComs are trickier, but the same logic applies to them.
Jim Miller (aaf1c0) — 8/1/2024 @ 12:26 pmLooking ahead, I hope that we announce to the world that the US would no longer participate in these sort of prisoner exchanges. It’s never been to our advantage to do so.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 1:15 pmJim Miller (aaf1c0) — 8/1/2024 @ 12:26 pm
You could just secretly indict them, but the problem is that you might arrest and convict a really bad one and that would be the person whom Putin would want to get released and not ordinary spies.
But you could arrest and detain some diplomats if they are playing that game. That might be some people Putin would want very much to get out but who haven’t committed unpardonable acts – at least not without immunity.
Another thing: You could do something that would harm Russia’s central bank. Maybe create ac situation where their gold won’t help them, even if it also disturbed the governments of some allied states if they weren’t careful. Depends how serious this whole thing gets.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/1/2024 @ 1:39 pmI hope that we announce to the world that the US would no longer participate in these sort of prisoner exchanges. It’s never been to our advantage to do so.
The problem is that we send people, like reporters, into these places and it serves our interests to do so.
Since anything the president does is legal, he can order our own hostage-taking. Every time the Russians kidnap one of ours, we take three of their diplomats from Upchuckistan and store them in a black site.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/1/2024 @ 1:52 pmReporters and tourists voluntarily go these countries.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 2:02 pmWhat I think is this is good, but a murderer should never have been included.
The problem is, that was the person Putin was most interested in.
But we could have kidnapped some diplomats and traded them for the rest. Putin would probably kidnap some American diplomats first but the whole thing could have been exchanged except for that assassin.
There was a clue this was coming in that Putin rushed the trial and sentencing of Evan Gershkovich, but I couldn’t figure out what it could be and nothing was public.
I didn’t think of the idea that they could do this big exchange.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/1/2024 @ 2:49 pmThis is good news.
We should always prioritize getting our OWN US citizens home.
Now bring home the 8 US citizens home still held in Gaza…
whembly (477db6) — 8/1/2024 @ 3:01 pmIf they didn’t go to russia they couldn’t be arrested there. Anyone going should be required to sign a statement your on your own like the fundo missionary eaten by cannibals on andaman islands. No swapping.
asset (e1601d) — 8/1/2024 @ 3:25 pmCompletely agree.
nk (4be0ed) — 8/1/2024 @ 3:41 pmMaybe Phil Gordon can help negotiate some hostage releases. He may have some influence in the Middle East:
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/1/2024 @ 4:13 pmCounterpoint: ifTrump wins, the GOP also won’t. Now, or later.
Demosthenes (57d51a) — 8/1/2024 @ 4:15 pmWhile the Republican Congressional leadership called the prisoner exchange “encouraging news” and evidence of “the Russian government’s longstanding fear of free people and the free press”; one Republican had a different take:
It is untrue that President Trump never gave “the opposing country nothing”:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/1/2024 @ 5:17 pmAnd let’s not forget how many fighters Trump returned to the Taliban. Great dealmaker, that one. He negotiated with terrorists and secured their approval for us to withdraw from Afghanistan. And all he had to give up in exchange was Afghanistan.
Demosthenes (a6fc95) — 8/1/2024 @ 5:35 pmDeadlines are key in any negotiation. Who had a looming deadline here? Biden and Harris. Kamala just became the nominee. Her stock is rising. What better time for Harris to score releasing hostages from Russia. And Putin/Russia knew it. They leveraged the time and knew there was no better time to get the best deal than now. Biden and Harris succumbed because they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Done deal.
Eddie B (39898e) — 8/1/2024 @ 9:01 pmBy “succumbing” you mean negotiating the freedom of Americans is a bad thing? Did they release 200 houthi’s for 2 Americans? Did they pay $2M for a dead kid?
It’s almost like when you want something and someone else wants something a negotiation happens. That negotiation results in multiple parties choosing the threshold with which they seek equivalency. Sometimes it’s swapping a bunch of western prisoners, sometime its paying a ransom. It happens all the time, it happened during Biden’s admin, during Trump’s, and every admin before, it’s part of statecraft.
Of course someone claimed last month that after November 5th they’d be able to get Gershkovich back. I’m sure Gershkovich’s family prefers him home at this moment, which he is.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/1/2024 @ 10:16 pmCapitalism? Isn’t it beautiful? We have to show a profit even when we are trying to rescue our fellow Americans.
So? How many foreign prionsers should we pay per American citizen to maintain a marketable P/E ratio for our stockholders?
nk (4be0ed) — 8/2/2024 @ 5:29 amBoth Judah Philip Benjamin and Edwin McMasters Stanton should have been hanged for Andersonville Prison after the Civil War. The Confederates could not care for the Union prisoners properly, Stanton refused to exchange them for Confederate POWs, and Benjamin would rather have them starve and sicken from their wounds rather than just let them go without a quid pro quo.
nk (4be0ed) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:18 amBecause it wasn’t “fair” that the Biden-Harris administration got the credit for negotiating the release of the American hostages during a presidential campaign, Trump should campaign on returning Whelan, Gershkovich, and Kurmasheva back to Russia so he can negotiate his better deal.
Rip Murdock (a78f1f) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:23 am#42
I suspect that quotation is meant as mockery, but those are two independent thoughts in your quote. One is the strength of diplomacy. Second is the importance of recognizing the strength of diplomacy.
Appalled (0ae987) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:32 amIt’s also unsourced.
Rip Murdock (a78f1f) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:43 amNobody ever complains about Klink’s unsourced quotes. 😩
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:55 amShow me the source!!!
The struggle is real.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/2/2024 @ 6:58 amJust google the quote. You’ll find it.
Appalled (0ae987) — 8/2/2024 @ 7:07 amThanks for the assist to Rip, Appalled. Sometimes his search engine gets stuck on deaths and flawed polls.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/2/2024 @ 7:09 amI see.
Rip Murdock (a78f1f) — 8/2/2024 @ 7:16 am25. That WSJ article is very long and tells you bits and pieces. Hismother waas very involved. Originally the trade was to be Navalny for the assassin but Germany needed a request from the USA.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/2/2024 @ 4:02 pm