MOSCOW/ANKARA/WASHINGTON: Russia freed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday as part of the biggest prisoner exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War.

The White House said the U.S. had negotiated the trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The deal, negotiated in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners, including 16 moving from Russia to the West and eight prisoners held in the West being sent back to Russia.

Germany confirmed they included Vadim Krasikov, convicted of murdering an exiled dissident in Berlin.

U.S. President Joe Biden hailed the deal as "a feat of diplomacy and friendship" and praised Washington's allies for their "bold and brave decisions."

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the prisoners returning to Russia at the airport after they landed in Moscow, and said they would be given state awards, while Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are due to greet those returning to the United States later on Thursday.

"Today is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world," Biden said at the White House, flanked by relatives of freed prisoners.

Biden said he owed a particular debt of gratitude to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who made the politically difficult choice to release Krasikov.

The deal provides the Biden administration with a marquee diplomatic success as the U.S. presidential campaign, pitting Harris against former Republican President Donald Trump, enters its final months.

Still, the multi-country deal appeared to be a one-time exchange that does not reset the antagonistic U.S.-Russia relationship. Critics said the freeing of Russians convicted of serious crimes could encourage more hostage-taking by U.S. foes.

Trump, who said he did not have details of the swap, asked whether "murderers, killers, or thugs" were released. "Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps," the Republican presidential nominee said on social media.

Also involved in the deal were Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus. Turkey coordinated the exchange.

The Kremlin said Moscow's decision to pardon and free prisoners had been made to bring Russian captives home. "The decision to sign the (pardon) decrees was made with the aim of returning Russian citizens detained and imprisoned in foreign countries," it said in a statement.

RUSSIAN DISSIDENTS FREED

The last major exchange between the United States and Russia in 2010 involved 14 prisoners. The two countries had a high-profile exchange in December 2022, swapping U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, sentenced to nine years for vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence.

The release of Russians convicted in the West represented a victory for Putin, who had indicated he wanted Krasikov back. Their homeland "had not forgotten you for a moment," he told them at the airport.

Krasikov is a colonel in the Russian FSB security service who was serving a life sentence in Germany for murdering an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.

Among the Westerners freed was Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist who had been accused of collecting sensitive military information for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a charge he and his employer denied.

Whelan is a former U.S. marine who was serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony on espionage charges that he denied.

Rico Krieger, a German, had been sentenced to death in Belarus on terrorism charges. He was pardoned by President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, prior to being freed.

Also released was Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison on July 19, the same day as Gershkovich, as well as Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident and U.S. resident serving 25 years for treason after saying Putin was bombing Ukrainian homes, hospitals and schools.

Released along with them were human rights activist Oleg Orlov and Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin.

In the West, the dissidents are seen by governments and activists as wrongfully detained political prisoners. All have, for different reasons, been designated by Moscow as dangerous extremists.

Many of those freed had worked with Alexei Navalny, Russia's leading opposition figure, who died in unclear circumstances in an Arctic penal colony in February. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed the exchange had been intended to include Navalny before his death.

BIRTHDAY GIFT

The exchange comes in the waning months of Biden's term in office, years marked by a sharp increase in tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Biden announced last month that he was abandoning his reelection bid.

Relatives of some of the freed prisoners appeared at the White House as Biden announced the swap deal on Thursday. During his remarks, Biden led the singing of "Happy Birthday" to Kurmasheva's daughter.

A Slovenian court on Wednesday sentenced two Russians to time served for espionage and using fake identities, and said they would be deported. Both were among those returned to Russia, according to an official U.S. list.

Also returned to Russia and released from the U.S. were Roman Seleznev and Vladislav Klyushin - both convicted of cyber crimes - and Vadim Konoshchenok.

WSJ Editor in Chief Emma Tucker posted an open letter on the X platform that read: "Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey's capital, Ankara, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.

"We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn't commit."

  - Reuters