BREAKING: Major US-Russia Prisoner Swap Underway

Bloomberg News reports:

Russia released 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.

The Kremlin is also releasing dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza as part of the agreement, a European official said on condition of anonymity. An activist with dual Russian-British citizenship, Kara-Murza, 42, has been a persistent campaigner against President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

The Independent reports:

Flight tracking site Flightradar24 showed that a special Russian government plane used for a previous prisoner swap, involving the United States and Russia, had flown from Moscow to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin strategist with strong links to the Russian government, has claimed that Russia and the US have completed their prisoner exchange.

“The exchange of agents took place. The exact lists are not yet known,” he said on Telegram. “On the Russian side, these are honest officers. On the American side, these are political figures who worked in the interests of the United States.”

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