WSJ reporter, former Marine go free in prisoner swap

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan went free Thursday morning in a multinational prisoner exchange, U.S. President Joe Biden said. Russia released sixteen prisoners to the U.S. and its allies as part of the deal, Biden said. Those prisoners included Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Washington Post contributor Vladimir Kara-Murza, according to the statement. Kara-Murza is not a U.S. citizen but holds a green card for work in the United States. Biden added later in recorded video that the prisoners arrived in Turkey earlier that day and would soon be headed to the United States.

Among the others released were five Germans, and seven Russians who were political prisoners in their own country, Biden said.

Has Russia confirmed the prisoner swap? The Russian state-run news organization RT on Thursday also reported that Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Whelan were part of the prisoner swap. Russia received back eight of its nationals in the exchange, and 12 prisoners held in Russia were released to Germany, RT added.