By James Myers, OAN Staff
Thursday, August 1, 2024 8:33 AM
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan are set to be released as part of the largest multinational prisoner swap since the Cold War. A.B.C. report.
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The US and four NATO allies are reportedly set to exchange 24 prisoners with Russia, which will take place in Turkey. A.B.C..
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of collecting state secrets about the Russian military on behalf of the U.S. government. He was the first American journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
In 2018, Whelan was arrested and later convicted on espionage charges, which he, his family and the Biden administration deny. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The U.S. government found Whelan “wrongfully detained,” but was unable to secure his release in recent detention exchanges involving U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and WNBA player Brittney Griner, and he was released in separate exchanges in 2022.
The latest prisoner swap announcement comes after President Joe Biden said he was willing to agree to a prisoner swap to free Gershkovich, a move Biden used to secure Griner’s release in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.”
Also involved in the exchanges, according to Bloomberg, is her US resident husband, Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician who was arrested in Russia in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and spreading false information about the Russian military and its war against Ukraine.
Rumours have been building in recent days about a possible large-scale prisoner swap between the US and Russia after several high-profile prisoners held in Russia were transferred from their cells to an unknown location. The Moscow Times.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
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