On 1 August 2024, the United States and Russia conducted the most extensive prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, involving the release of twenty-six people. The exchange was realized at the Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Turkey.
Following at least six months of secret multilateral negotiations, Russia and Belarus released sixteen detainees while the U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Norway collectively released eight detainees and two minors. Among those released were three American citizens: Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine; Gershkovich and Whelan had each received sixteen-year sentences for espionage, becoming a cause célèbre in the U.S.
The prisoner exchange, which has been described as one of the most complex in history, took place at Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Turkey, whose government served as a mediator between the parties. Under the terms of the agreement, the eight Russian nationals and two minors were transferred to Russia, while thirteen of the prisoners held by Russia and Belarus were released to Germany and three to the U.S. Both the U.S. and Russia hailed the prisoner swap as a significant diplomatic victory.
Background
During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union routinely exchanged prisoners, who were typically spies, military officers, or other government agents.A look at major Russian prisoner swaps in history - Brittney Griner and more | Reuters The end of the Cold War in 1991 resulted in a marked decline in espionage activities—and, accordingly, prisoner exchanges—between the U.S. and Soviet Union's successor, the Russian Federation; the most recent mass prisoner swap between the two countries occurred in 2010, when ten Russian sleeper agents detained in the U.S. as part of the so-called "Illegals Program" were exchanged for four prisoners held in Russia.
In response to rising geopolitical tensions with the West over the past decade, Russia has heightened its repression of both domestic dissent and perceived foreign influence, leading to the arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, many of whom are deemed by the U.S. government to have been "wrongfully detained". In 2012, Russia enacted a foreign agent law that has been used to persecute those deemed under foreign influence; the scope of the law was expanded in 2024. Following the start of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, and especially since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian government has intensified its crackdowns on domestic opposition and "foreign influence". On 4 March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading "fake news" about Russia's military operation in Ukraine; thousands of Russians have been prosecuted under this law for criticizing the war in Ukraine, including opposition politician Ilya Yashin and artist Aleksandra Skochilenko.
Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine veteran arrested in Russia in 2019 allegedly for attacking a police officer, was released in April 2022 for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and aviation transport expert imprisoned in the U.S. for drug smuggling. Less than a year after Reed's release, American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been arrested in February 2022 for drug smuggling, was exchanged the following December for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Several analysts and U.S. officials expressed concern that Russia used Reed and Griner as leverage in response to the international sanctions imposed upon it after their invasion of Ukraine. Several other Americans held by Russia, including former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and schoolteacher Marc Fogel, had been contemplated as part of the exchange deal for Griner; the negotiations leading to her release reportedly paved the way for the most recent exchange of twenty-six individuals between both countries and their respective allies.
The involvement of Belarus in the deal reflects Putin's foreign policy, seeing post-Soviet states as Russia's sphere of influence and opposing NATO enlargement there. According to Western analysts, Belarus acts on the Kremlin's demand under the Russian-dominated supranational "Union State".
Prisoner exchange
Negotiations and preparation
During a February 2024 trip by German chancellor Olaf Scholz to Washington, D.C., the German and American governments began working on how to negotiate an agreement that would include the freeing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Scholz and Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob separately during the Munich Security Conference in February 2024 to privately discuss the negotiations. After Navalny's death on the first day of the conference—explained by his allies as a killing to prevent the exchange—the proposal turned to focus on other prisoners.
Prior to June 2024, Sergey Beseda headed the Russian side of the negotiations that later led to the 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange; however, in June 2024, Vladimir Putin replaced Beseda with Aleksey Komkov. The Vice President of Germany's BND Philipp Wolff also joined the negotiations at this time.
On 21 July, American president Joe Biden called Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob to secure the necessary pardons for two Russian spies held in the country that were to be exchanged as part of the swap.
In the days leading up to the exchange, three Russians were transferred from facilities operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to the United States Marshals Service.
Turkey served as a key mediator of the exchange and was named by President Biden as one of the nations that had "stepped up" to ensure that the prisoners were released; the Turkish government, which maintains relatively warm relations with both parties, oversaw the physical exchange of prisoners at Ankara Esenboğa Airport.
Individuals released Twenty-six individuals, including two minors believed to be the children of the two Russian spies in Slovenia, were released. Marc Fogel and Ksenia Karelina were not included as part of the exchange. Individuals returning to Russia are from various countries: the United States, Germany, Slovenia, Poland, and Norway.
Released by Russia and Belarus The following people were released by Russia and Belarus: + Prisoners previously held by Russia and Belarus Name Nationality Country detained in Held since Occupation Charges Prison sentence Lilia Chanysheva 2021 Regional coordinator of Navalny Headquarters in Ufa Extremism 9.5 years Ksenia Fadeeva 2023 Regional coordinator of Navalny Headquarters in Tomsk 9 years Vadim Ostanin 2021 Regional coordinator of Navalny Headquarters in Barnaul Evan Gershkovich 2023 Reporter for The Wall Street Journal Espionage 16 years Vladimir Kara-Murza 2022 Opposition politician Treason 25 years Rico Krieger 2024 Red Cross employee Terrorism Death Alsu Kurmasheva 2023 Journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Spreading false information about the Russian military 6.5 years Kevin Lik High school student Treason 4 years Herman Moyzhes 2024 Immigration lawyer Not brought to trial Oleg Orlov Human rights activist Discrediting the Russian military 2.5 years Andrei Pivovarov 2021 Head of Open Russia political organization Carrying out activities of an undesirable organization 4 years Patrick Schöbel 2024 Technician, was a tourist in Russia Drug smuggling (6 gummy bears coated with cannabis oil) Not brought to trial Aleksandra Skochilenko 2022 Artist and author Spreading false information about the Russian military 7 years Demuri Voronin 2021 Political scientist Treason 13 years and 3 months Paul Whelan 2018 Security executive and former U.S. Marine Espionage 16 years Ilya Yashin 2022 Opposition politician Spreading false information about the Russian military 8.5 years
Russian citizens released by Western countries The following people were released by Western countries: + Prisoners previously held by the West Name Nationality Country detained in Held since Occupation Charges Prison sentence Artem Dultsev 2022 Undercover spies, SVR Espionage 19 months Anna Dultseva Pablo González Yagüe(a.k.a. Pavel Rubtsov) Journalist, suspected GRU officer Not sentenced Vladislav Klyushin 2023 Businessman Fraud 9 years Vadim Konoshchenock 2022 Suspected FSB officer Conspiracy to evade sanctions Not sentenced Vadim Krasikov 2021 FSB officer Murder (of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili) Life in prison José Assis Giammaria(a.k.a. Mikhail Mikushin) 2022 Researcher, suspected GRU officer Espionage Not brought to trial Roman Seleznev 2014 Hacker 38 charges related to hacking 27 years
Responses United States
In the United States, Republican representative Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, praised the exchange and claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin had a "strategy of detaining individuals for negotiations".
Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump called the exchange "a win for Putin" and said that it "sets a very bad precedent" for US. He also questioned if money was involved in the deal. His running mate, JD Vance, however, called the exchange "great news", and said that Trump deserved credit for it, claiming Putin was motivated to "clean house" by fear of a future Trump presidency.
News of the exchange was broken by Bloomberg prior to the plane's landing in Turkey; this was criticized by other outlets because information provided by the White House to journalists was embargoed until the individuals were successfully released.
After finishing a 2024 Summer Olympics match with Team U.S.A. winning 87–73 over Belgium, Olympiad basketball player and Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, who had previously been in discussions with Paul Whelan for a joint release together before the Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange came about, expressed great joy over hearing about the prisoner exchange, saying that she's "head over heels happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home, that's a win." She would also add that "although today is one of celebration, our hearts go out to the many Americans still being held hostage overseas, and their families. As we extend support to those who have returned and celebrate the collective hands that helped to make American families wholewe must continue to do everything we can to shine a light on the remaining Americans detained."
The family and supporters of Marc Fogel, a schoolteacher from Western Pennsylvania who has been in prison in Russia for three years for the same crime as Grinerbringing a small amount of medical marijuana into the countryobjected to him being left out of the swap. Fogel was reportedly devastated by it. The US State Department has refused to designate Fogel as "wrongfully detained" as it did Griner before negotiating her release. Fogel was ultimately released months later on February 11, 2025, in exchange for Russian cyber criminal Alexander Vinnik.
Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the exchange as a difficult dilemma: "Normally, we want people who are arrested and suspected of crimes in our countries to be investigated and possibly brought to trial according to our principles of the rule of law. So, intervening in that is a very serious matter. But you have to make that assessment in a broader context. And that broader context indicated that it was the right thing to do."