Moscow and Washington have exchanged a total of 26 prisoners that had been held in several countries, in the biggest such swap in modern history. The exchange took place on Thursday afternoon in Türkiye.
Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and Russian intelligence operative Vadim Krasikov were the two most prominent names on the swap list. Russia retrieved ten of its nationals in exchange for 16 people sent to the West – 12 to Germany and four to the US.
“I want to thank you all for staying faithful to your oaths, your duty, and your country that has not forgotten you,” President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow, meeting the returning Russians at the airport personally.
US President Joe Biden confirmed the release of “three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia,” describing the exchange as “a feat of diplomacy” and thanking Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Türkiye for helping achieve it.
The last…