Massive Prisoner Exchange Releases 16 People from Wrongful Detention in Russia
Western countries engaged in a massive prisoner exchange to release 16 individuals from wrongful detention in Russia, including journalists, political activists, and a security practitioner.
The swap was a coordinated effort on behalf of Germany, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, and the United States to free detainees from Russia. The actual exchange of prisoners took place in Turkey on Thursday before individuals were flown to their home nations.
All in all, 24 individuals were exchanged during the swap. Sixteen people were released from Russian detention centers, including journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, security professional and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.
“Through the extraordinary efforts of countless people in the State Department and across our government, the United States was able to strike an agreement to secure [Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Whelan's] freedom, as well as that of Vladimir Kara-Murza and 12 others held prisoner inside Russia,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
Other individuals released from Russian custody included some German nationals and Russian political prisoners: Dieter Voronin, Kevin Lick, Rico Krieger, Patrick Schoebel, Herman Moyzhes, Ilya Yashin, Liliya Chanysheva, Kseniya Fadeyeva, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, and Sasha Skochilenko.
The Biden administration was working behind the scenes for several years to free the Americans held in custody, especially Whelan who had been detained for a total of 2,043 days, according to a statement from his family shared with CBS News. Whelan was an ASIS member and security professional working in Michigan when he was detained in December 2018 after traveling to Russia for a friend’s wedding.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that Whelan was caught in an act of espionage with a USB drive that contained classified information,” according to the Detroit Free Press. “Whelan insisted he was set up, and simply was a tourist in Moscow to attend the wedding of a friend.”
Whelan’s case was that of “an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as part of their blighted initiative to use humans as pawns to extract concessions,” his family wrote.
Fred Burton, executive director of protective intelligence at Ontic, says security practitioners traveling to certain countries—like Russia and China—can be viewed as intelligence personnel of the West and draw untoward surveillance.
“As someone who has debriefed many hostages held captive, none of the victims ever believed they could have been taken hostage,” Burton says. “Sadly, in today’s challenging security environment, Westerners—specifically Americans—can find themselves as hostages or political prisoners and used solely as political tools of foreign policy.”
Gershkovich was the first foreign correspondent to be charged with espionage in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was detained while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 on false allegations that he was acting as a defense contractor for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
“Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said the moment Gershkovich walked free from a Russian plane was a great joy for the reporter and his family, and that the publication has set in place a plan to ensure he is properly supported once he returns to the U.S.,” according to the paper.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), chair of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, called Gershkovich’s arrest and imprisonment a “devastating blow to freedom of the press across the globe,” in a statement shared with Security Management.
“Today, thanks to the work of the Biden-Harris administration, Evan is free along with former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Virginia resident and pro-democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, and 12 others who were wrongfully detained by Russia for too long in yet another testament to the cruelty and cowardice of Vladimir Putin,” Warner added.
Kurmasheva was reporting for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and had traveled to Russia to visit her mother when she was arrested by Russian officials on allegations of spreading false information about the Russian military.
“Her conviction and six-and-a-half year prison sentence by a court in Kazan, Russia, came on the same day another Russian court convicted…Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years,” ABC News reports.
In exchange for the swap of Western detainees, CNN reports that eight individuals were released into Russian custody: Vadim Krasikov, a former FSB colonel convicted of murder; Vadim Konoshchenok, a Russian citizen with alleged ties to the FSB who was facing conspiracy charges for money laundering in the United States; Roman Seleznev, a fraudster and convicted hacker who ran a $50 million fraud ring; Artem Dultsev, a Russian spy living in Slovenia; Anna Dultseva, also a Russian spy living in Slovenia; Mikhail Mikushin, a Russian spy imprisoned in Norway; and Pavel Rubtsov, a Russian spy who was arrested in Poland.
Russian President Putin greeted those released as they arrived at a Moscow airport, congratulating them on their return to their homeland.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters that Krasikov was an FSB officer who served in an Alpha unit, alongside President Putin’s bodyguards, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
He was imprisoned in Germany after a brazen murder of a Chechen militant in a Berlin park. Coordination with German authorities was critical to yesterday’s successful exchange.
John E. Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said in an explainer that after Putin successfully traded U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022, he became focused on a trade for Krasikov.
“When Putin gave up Griner, he still had Whelan as a hostage for future trades with the United States,” Herbst explained. “Then he added Gershkovich in March 2023 for additional trade bait and Kurmasheva this past spring…. After the Griner-Bout exchange, U.S. efforts to secure the freedom of Whelan and then Gershkovich foundered on the refusal of Germany to include Krasikov—Putin’s prime objective—in any trade.”
Kremlin spokesperson Peskov also confirmed that Artem Dultsov and Anna Dultsov, who were imprisoned in Slovenia, were undercover intelligence officers.
“Posing as Argentine expats, they used Ljubljana as their base since 2017 to relay Moscow’s orders to other sleeper agents and were arrested on espionage charges in 2022,” the AP reported.
Two of the names on the list of those released to Russia may be familiar to those who follow cybercrime. Selzenev, for instance, was sentenced to 27 years in U.S. prison for “hacking dozens of small businesses and selling millions of sets of credit-card numbers on automated websites authorities likened to an Amazon-type marketplace for cybercriminals,” according to Cyberscoop.
Kluyshin also participated in a “hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $9 million through securities trades based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks,” Cyberscoop added. “With insider knowledge of companies’ financial performance, Klyushin and his co-conspirators predicted stock price movements and traded on stolen information. They used accounts in multiple countries, including Cyprus, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, and the U.S., misleading brokerage firms about their activities.”
Efforts remain ongoing to free others who remain detained in Russia, including U.S. teacher Marc Fogel. The U.S. State Department has urged U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to Russia, due in part to the risk of wrongful detention—especially following its invasion of Ukraine.
“Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on false charges, denied them fair treatment, and convicted them without credible evidence,” the department said. “Furthermore, Russian authorities have opened questionable investigations against U.S. citizens engaged in religious activity. U.S. citizens should avoid travel to Russia.”
Burton says that security practitioners should pay attention to the travel advisories and alerts from the State Department and Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They should also take other precautions when traveling to nations like Russia and China.
“Assume your car and hotel room are bugged. Keep a low profile and stay out of the hotel bars, which are frequently spots used by hostile foreign intelligence agencies,” Burton says. “As an American, when traveling anywhere, be sure to register for STEP, so the U.S. Embassy knows of your travel and can help in the event of an emergency. Most Fortune 1000’s do a great job of tracking staff through various tracking programs and GSOCs.”
For resources on educating colleagues and fellow security practitioners about the risk of wrongful detention while traveling for work, check out our series on the topic.
