After enduring years of wrongful detention, two men, one American and one Russian, have finally been released in a swap deal between the US and Russia. The US State Department had designated both men as wrongfully detained, marking the end of a nightmare that lasted over five years for one and more than a year for the other.
The negotiations leading to Thursday's swap were complex and conducted quietly over several months between Moscow and Washington. US diplomats went to great lengths, scouring the globe for offers to entice Russia to release the Americans.
The Russian journalist, Gershkovich, was arrested in March 2023 during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg. Subsequently, he was convicted of espionage by a Russian court on July 19 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in a trial widely condemned by the US government, his newspaper, and supporters as a sham.
On the other hand, Whelan, a US, Irish, British, and Canadian citizen, was detained in December 2018 at a Moscow hotel by Russian authorities who accused him of involvement in an intelligence operation. Despite vehemently denying the espionage charges, the former US Marine was sentenced to 16 years in prison. During his incarceration at a labor camp in Mordovia, located an eight-hour drive from Moscow, Whelan described his daily routine of working in a clothing factory that he likened to a 'sweatshop' during an interview with CNN in June 2021.
