BREAKING: WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich is Being Released by Russia in Multi-Country Prisoner Swap

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is being released from a Russian prison along with former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in what is being reported as a multi-country prisoner swap.

Jennifer Jacobs reports for Bloomberg:

Russia is releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a major prisoner swap with the US, according to people familiar with the situation.

The men, jailed in Russia on espionage charges they and the US deny, are en route to destinations outside of Russia. The US and its allies will return prisoners to Russia that they hold under the deal, the people said, asking for anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t yet public.

Further details of the exchange weren’t immediately available. The US has been in talks for years to achieve the release of the two, which the State Department has designated wrongly detained.

This stunning news follows multiple reports that a prisoner swap could be underway that would lead to Gershgovich’s release from Russian prison.

Jacobs writes: “Further details of the exchange weren’t immediately available. The US has been in extensive talks to achieve the release of the two, who were designated as wrongly detained by the State Department.”

CNN’s Alex Marquardt confirmed much of Jacobs’s reporting on CNN Thursday morning in a breaking news report.

Citing a “senior administration official” Marquardt reported that “parties, without specifying whom have agreed to a prisoner transfer, now in a position where they are soon expected to be in U.S. custody.” He continued:

So this senior administration official is saying that a prisoner transfer is underway and that these presumably American prisoners are expected to soon be in U.S. custody. Now, this senior administration official is not naming who they are. But of course, we know that at the very top of the list, they add after months and months, if not years of negotiations, in fact, the U.S. has been trying to get back former Marine Paul Whelan. And Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Herskovitz. Both of them had been convicted by Russian courts for espionage. Each had received, 16 year sentences. Paul Whelan has been serving that sentence since 2020. He was arrested six years ago, back in 2018. Evan Herskovitz was arrested in March of last year and was just convicted last month. There’s also a Russian American journalist

Watch above via CNN.

Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com