A total of 24 people who had been imprisoned in seven countries, including the United States and Russia, were exchanged. A Wall Street Journal reporter who had been held in Russia was also released.

On the 1st, the Turkish presidential office announced in the capital Ankara that a total of 24 people who had been imprisoned in seven countries, including the United States and Russia, had been exchanged.

Besides the United States and Russia, the other five countries involved in this exchange are Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus, with three people being extradited to the United States and 10 to Russia.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Evan Gershkovich, a Moscow journalist who had been detained in Russia, has been released.

Also among those extradited is reportedly former US Marine Paul Whelan.

This is believed to be the first prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since December 2022, when US women’s basketball star Brittney Greiner was exchanged for Russian prisoner Viktor Bout, who was nicknamed the “merchant of death” for allegedly trafficking arms in conflict zones.

Source: Japanese