WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan are dramatically RELEASED by Russia as part of a major prisoner swap with the US.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan have been dramatically released from prison in Russia.

The men were released as part of a major prisoner swap with Moscow, reportedly involving some 20 to 30 political prisoners.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 on charges of espionage that the United States says is unlawful. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.

Whelan, 54, has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in 2020.

The US denies he was ever involved in espionage activities.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been released from prison in Russia

Former US Marine Paul Whelan has also been released as part of the major prisoner swap

Four Russians held in the US on suspicion of cybercrime, smuggling and money laundering, among other things, are said to have been involved in the transaction.

According to the Moscow Times, these individuals recently disappeared from the federal database of prisoners in America.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident who was also imprisoned in Russia, is also said to have disappeared.

Earlier this week, Slovenian broadcaster N1 Slovenia raised speculation that a prisoner exchange was imminent.

The reports noted an exchange between the US, Germany, Russia and Belarus.

If claims of an exchange of up to 30 prisoners are true, it would be the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

According to the anonymous source quoted by the Moscow Times, Russian authorities “made great efforts to keep the information in Russia as secret as possible until the last moment.”

The developments took place on Wednesday, when Kremlin military planes flew to remote areas of Russia where political prisoners are being held.

The US government has repeatedly stated that it is committed to the release of both men, who it says have been wrongly held.

Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 on charges of espionage that the United States considers unlawful. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July

Whelan, a security manager from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow while attending a friend’s wedding

Gershkovich was the son of Soviet émigrés who settled in New Jersey. He spoke fluent Russian and moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper. In 2022, he was hired by the WSJ.

He was the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia for espionage since the Cold War.

Russian prosecutors alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret information on behalf of the U.S. CIA about a company producing tanks for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Both he and his employer denied this.

Agents of the FSB security service arrested him on March 29, 2023, at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles (1,400 km) east of Moscow. He has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since then.

Whelan, a security manager from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow while attending a friend’s wedding.

He continues to maintain his innocence and says the charges are trumped up.

Few details are known about the circumstances under which either man is behind bars. Whelan’s lawyer said in recent days that she no longer knew where he was being held.

His family previously said he was attacked while in prison in the remote IK-17 camp in Mordovia by a prisoner who reportedly punched him in the face and broke his glasses.

U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using Gershkovich and Whelan as bargaining chips for a possible prisoner swap.

This is breaking news. Check back later for updates.