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Russia Has Released Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in Major Prisoner Swap with US, Sources Say

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Amira Barkhush
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Russia Has Released Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in Major Prisoner Swap with US, Sources Say
US journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, looks out from inside a glass defendants' cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court on June 26, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia is releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan in a major prisoner exchange with the US, Bloomberg reports.

The men are now en route to locations outside of Russia. Under the agreement, the US and its allies will return to Russia prisoners they currently hold. Sources, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, provided this information.

Paul Whelan, a former US marine accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendants' cage as he waits to hear his verdict in Moscow on June 15, 2020. (Source: Getty Images)
Paul Whelan, a former US marine accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendants' cage as he waits to hear his verdict in Moscow on June 15, 2020. (Source: Getty Images)

US marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich were accused of espionage by Russia, which they both and the US deny. Gershkovich was detained in Moscow in March 2023 and Paul Whelan was arrested on December 28, 2018.

Online Russian “Agenstvo” outlet has reported that at least six special Russian government planes have recently been making trips to and from regions where prisons housing dissidents are located.

Recently, Paul Whelan and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident, have disappeared from view, according to their lawyers. 

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