The Turkish presidency confirmed a major prisoner swap between Russia, the United States and four European countries is taking place in Ankara.
Three US citizens detained in Russia – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, US Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva – are said to be among those released.
In total, the exchange will involve at least 24 prisoners.
Eight Russian citizens are expected to be returned to Russia, including several suspected of having links to Russian intelligence.
One of all Vadim Krasikov, identified by German officials as a colonel in Russia’s FSB intelligence agencywho is serving a life sentence for the 2019 murder of a Kremlin opponent in a Berlin park.
The Turkish presidency said in a statement that the exchange involved 26 individuals detained in seven countries – the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus.
Ten prisoners including two minors were transferred to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States, the report added.
It is believed that the children in question are those of Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, a Russian couple recently convicted of espionage in Slovenia, and believed to be among those being exchanged.
The Turkish presidency said all prisoners were taken off the plane, transferred to secure locations under the supervision of Turkish security officials, and then put on planes to their destination countries.
The exchange comes after days of speculation about a major exchange between several countries, which grew after several dissidents and journalists jailed in Russia were moved from their prison cells to unknown locations.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic with dual Russian-British citizenship, is among those detained without a trace, raising expectations that he too could be released.
Others likely to be on the list include Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin and veteran human rights activist Oleg Orlov.
While secret prison transfers are common in Russia, it is unusual for so many high-profile prisoners to “disappear.”
Earlier this week, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned German citizen Rico Krieger, who had been sentenced to death for terrorism and other crimes.
If all the issuances go ahead, it would be one of the largest exchanges between Russia and the West in history.
The most recent high-profile prisoner swap took place in December 2022, when American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been held in a US prison for 12 years.
The most recent similar incident occurred in Vienna in 2010, when 10 Russian spies detained in the United States were exchanged for four alleged double agents detained in Russia.
One of them was Sergei Skripal, a former military intelligence officer who was later poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
Tensions between Moscow and the West have been high in recent years, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
