A large exchange between Russia and the West took place in Turkey on August 1. It was brokered by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) of Turkey. A total of 26 prisoners from seven countries — Russia, Belarus, the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway — were exchanged.
This is reported by the Turkish TV channel TRT Haber with reference to an intelligence statement.
26 prisoners arrived in Ankara on seven planes — two planes from the States, one each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia.
During the operation, ten people, including two children, were handed over to Russia. Three to the States, 13 to Germany. Two children may be the children of scouts Artem and Anna Dultsev.
Among those exchanged are Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and US Marine Paul Whelan, who were in prison in Russia, a German, a worker of the "Red Cross", sentenced to death in Belarus for hiring Rico Krieger, a Russian oppositionist, sentenced in 2022 to 8.5 years in prison in the case of "fakes" about the Russian army, Ilya Yashin, as well as FSB officer Vadym Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder of Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
The exact list of participants in the exchange is still unknown.
Before that, the Russian publication The Insider published, as it claims, a complete list of those being exchanged. Russia will hand over journalist Evan Gershkovich, politician Volodymyr Kara-Murza, associates of Navalny Vadym Ostanin, Lilia Chanysheva, Ilya Yashin and Ksenia Fadeeva, politician from "Open Russia" Andrii Pivovarov, former US Marine Paul Wilan, journalist "Radio Liberty" Alsa Kurmasheva, German Rico Krieger, human rights defender Oleg Orlov, artist Sasha Skochylenko, journalist Ivan Safronov, political scientist Dieter Voronin, the youngest convicted of treason Kevin Leek, Germans Rico Krieger and Patrik Shebel, Herman Moises.
Instead, Russia will receive Federal Security Service killer Vadym Krasikov, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service spies Artem and Anna Dultsevich, Main Intelligence Directorate colonel Mykhailo Mikushin, Russian political scientist Pablo Gonzalez (Pavlo Rubtsov) accused of espionage in Poland, son of State Duma deputy Valery Seleznev, Russian hacker Roman Seleznev, creator of IT monitoring systems for the Kremlin Vladyslav Klyushin and FSB officer Vadym Konoshchenko.
What is known about those who can be extradited to Russia
Artem and Anna Dultseva are Russian spies who posed as Argentine citizens Ludwig Gish and Maria Rosa Mayer Munoz. In 2022, they were arrested in Slovenia, which the couple used as a base for trips around Europe, where they performed tasks for the Kremlin and maintained contact with Moscow. They also spied on the Slovenian Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators.
FSB officer Vadym Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder of Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought on the side of Ichkeria during the Second Chechen War. The media wrote that they wanted to exchange Krasikov for Oleksiy Navalny when he was still alive.
Vadim Krasikov
Volodymyr Dunaev. He was convicted in the USA for cyber fraud. From November 2015 to August 2020, he and his accomplices stole money and confidential information, as well as damaged computer systems. In particular, more than $3.4 million was stolen in the state of Ohio with the participation of Dunaev.
Roman Seleznyov. He is a hacker, the son of Valery Seleznyov, a member of the Russian State Duma from the LDPR. Sentenced in 2017 to 27 years for stealing credit card numbers and reselling them on the black market.
Vladyslav Klyushin. He was accused in the USA of hacking the database of American companies. He and his accomplices stole confidential information, which he then used to make money on the stock markets. In 2023, he was sentenced to 9 years.
Oleksandr Vinnyk. US authorities believe he is the founder of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange and claim that stolen bitcoins were sold there. He is also accused of laundering more than $4 billion.
Maxim Marchenko. In July of this year, he was sentenced to 3 years in the US for supplying microelectronics to Russia to circumvent sanctions.
Vadym Konoshchenok. FSB colonel detained at the Estonian border. He is accused of money laundering and the purchase of military technology for the Russian authorities in the United States. Not convicted.
Mykhailo Mikushyn. A researcher from the University of Tromsø, who previously identified himself as Jose Assis Jammaria from Brazil, has been charged in Norway in a case of espionage. He is considered an officer of the GRU.
Pablo Gonzalez (on Russian passport Pavlo Rubtsov). Spanish journalist arrested in Poland in 2022 on suspicion of working for the GRU. He is suspected of tracking Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of the murdered Russian oppositionist Boris Nemtsov.
Who will the West get?
Evan Gershkovich is an American journalist of The Wall Street Journal, sentenced to 16 years on suspicion of espionage and gathering information about a secret enterprise.
Evan Gershkovich
Patrick Schebel is a German who was detained in January 2024 at the St. Petersburg airport. He was charged with drug smuggling for a bag of gummy bears, which were later found to contain marijuana.
German Moizhes is a citizen of Germany and Russia, a member of the St. Petersburg branch of the Yabluko party. He was accused of treason, but the details were not revealed.
Paul Whelan is a former US Marine accused of espionage. Received 16 years in prison in 2020.
Paul Whelan
Dieter Voronin is a citizen of Russia and Germany, in March 2023 he was sentenced by a Russian court to 13 years on charges of "espionage" for the German intelligence service.
Kevin Leek is a schoolboy from Adygea, has Russian and German citizenship. He was accused of allegedly photographing the "locations" of the Russian military unit between 201 and 2023, and then sending the photos to a "representative of a foreign state." He was sentenced in 2023, when he had already turned 18, to 4 years in prison.
Rico Krieger is a German, a Red Cross worker, sentenced to death in Belarus for being a mercenary. Before the exchange, he was pardoned.
Rico Krieger
Liliya Chanysheva headed the headquarters of Alexei Navalny in Ufa, and has been in prison since 2021. She was the first to be detained in the case of the creation of an "extremist community" that was brought against Navalny and his supporters. In 2023, she was sentenced to seven years.
Ksenia Fadeeva is the head of Navalnyʼs headquarters in Tomsk, another figure in the case of the "extremist community". Convicted in 2023 to 9 years in prison.
Vadym Ostanin is the head of Navalnyʼs headquarters in Barnaul. Sentenced to 9 years for "participation in an extremist community."
Ilya Yashin is a Russian oppositionist, sentenced in 2022 to 8.5 years in prison in the case of "fakes" about the Russian army.
Oppositionist and journalist Volodymyr Kara-Murza has been under arrest since 2022 because of a speech in Arizona, where he declared about Russian war crimes in Ukraine. In 2023, he was sentenced to 25 prison terms on charges of "treason", cooperation with an "undesirable organization" and spreading "fakes" about the Russian army.
Volodymyr Kara-Murza
Oleg Orlov is the chairman of the board of the Russian human rights center "Memorial". The center itself was initially recognized as a "foreign agent", and later the court liquidated it. In February 2024, Orlov was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months for "discrediting the army."
Sasha Skochylenko is an artist from St. Petersburg who was arrested in 2022 for anti-war propaganda: she replaced the price tags in the store with stickers with information about the number of victims of the war in Ukraine and calls to stop the invasion. In 2023, she was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Maria Ponomarenko is a journalist of the Russian media RusNews, arrested in 2023 for a post about residents of Mariupol who died during the Russian bombing of the city theater. She was sentenced to 6 years.
Also Kurmasheva. The journalist of the Tatar-Bashkir service of Radio Liberty, a citizen of Russia and the USA, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in July 2024 in the case of military "fakes".
Andriy Pyvovarov is a politician who was detained in May 2021 and charged with the activities of the "undesirable organization" — "Open Russia". He was sentenced to 4 years in prison.