REVEALED: The Russian ‘cyber criminals’ detained in the U.S who could be exchanged for jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as Kremlin spokesman hints at secret prisoner swap
- Russian officials have said they had been in contact with Washington concerning the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich
- The Wall Street Journal reporter had been arrested in March on charges of espionage, which he denies
- In exchange for Gershkovich, Washington could send one of five Russian cyber criminals serving time in US prisons back to Moscow
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich could be released back to the US in a prisoner swap with potentially one of five Russian ‘cyber criminals’ in US jail after the Kremlin hinted at talks of a secret exchange.
If a swap was to take place they reaffirmed that such talks must be ‘held out of the public eye.’
Gershkovich has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage.
The US, The Wall Street Journal and Gershkovich deny the spying allegations. He is the first western journalist detained in Russia since the Soviet era.
Alleged Russian cyber criminals Roman Seleznyov, Vladislav Klyushin, Aleksandr Vinnik, Denis Dubnikov and Vladimir Dunaev are all serving time in US prisons and one could be sent back to Moscow in a prisoner swap with Gershkovich.
In a press conference earlier today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public. They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.’
Gershkovich, pictured here, stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 22, 2023
Vladimir Putin meets with alumni of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 4, 2023
For the first time since April, the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy was allowed to visit Gershkovich on Monday after Russia twice rejected requests to see him.
The 31-year-old was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip and is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions.
A State Department spokesperson said after Monday’s visit: ‘Ambassador Tracy reports that Mr Gershkovich is in good health and remains strong, despite his circumstances.’
Moscow and Washington are said to have touched on the issue of swapping Gershkovich for Vladimir Dunaev.
Gershkovich’s arrest in the city of Yekaterinburg rattled journalists in Russia, where authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence they have gathered to support the espionage charges
Russian national Dunaev was extradited to the US from South Korea in 2021, where he faces charges in relation to his alleged role in a transnational, cybercriminal organization.
He has pleaded not guilty to a number of conspiracy, wire fraud and identity theft charges.
According to court documents, the 38-year-old was a member of a transnational, cybercriminal organization.
Four other accused Russian cyber criminals could be considered for a prisoner swap with Gershkovich.
Roman Seleznyov, the son of Valery Seleznyov a member of Russia’s lower house of parliament, is serving a 27 years for cybercrimes including selling stolen U.S. credit card data, according to RadioFreeEurope.
Vladislav Klyushin, 41, was extradited to the United States on December 18 accused of being part of a group that hacked into networks to steal sensitive corporate data and use the information to trade stocks.
Aleksandr Vinnik, 43, also known as ‘Mr. Bitcoin’, was extradited to the United States on August 5 to face money-laundering charges.
And Denis Dubnikov, 29, was extradited to the United States earlier this year on charges of laundering cryptocurrency tied to a notorious ransomware gang.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.
Daniloff was released 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union´s U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.
Two weeks ago, a Moscow court rejected an appeal by Gershkovich and upheld and earlier ruling that he should remain in jail until late August.
Wearing a black T-shirt and light blue jeans, Gershkovich looked tense and paced around inside a glass defendant’s cage while waiting for the hearing to begin at the Moscow City Court.
If convicted, the journalist faces a sentence of up to 20 years.
After Gershkovich’s hearing in June, WSJ’s Editor in Chief Emma Tucker told the BBC her expectations were low.
‘If I’m being perfectly honest, we don’t expect anything to come of this but it’s really, really important to go through the process,’ she said.
Tucker said the ‘really horrifying’ thing about Gershkovich’s case was that it had become part of the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the US.
‘Whatever it takes to get Evan out is going to be a very complicated puzzle. To be honest, the American government don’t have that much leverage any more, essentially they are helping Russia’s enemy fight a war against it.
‘So things are difficult,’ she said.
Along with Gershkovich, the US has also been advocating for the release of Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who has been in jail for more than four years.
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine accused of spying and arrested in Russia, stands inside a defendants’ cage during a hearing at a court in Moscow in 2019
Paul Whelan has been held at a Russian penal colony since December 2018, when he was arrested on a trip to Moscow
Whelan is in Mordovia, an area far southeast of Moscow known for harsh conditions in its prison camps.
He has been held at a Russian penal colony since December 2018, when he was arrested on a trip to Moscow. He was convicted two years later on spying charges and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security jail.
American officials believe those charges are bogus, yet Whelan still sits in jail where he has lost about 20 percent of his body weight, his brother David revealed in an interview with Good Morning America in December.
Whelan’s family had originally hoped the Biden administration would be able to negotiate a deal to release him at the same time as American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was released in December after spending 10 months in a Russian penal colony.
Griner was swapped for ‘Merchant of Death’ arms dealer Viktor Bout, whose arms sales have cost countless lives including US servicemen.
She was initially arrested at a Moscow airport when authorities say she was caught with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She had been at a detention center near Moscow until November 4, when she was moved to the IK-2 facility in Yavas.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist’s months-long imprisonment brought attention to the population of wrongful detainees in Russia, while adding pressure on the Biden administration to complete a prisoner swap for Griner’s release.
After Griner’s release, Whelan’s brother David voiced fears his brother may be stuck in captivity for another 12 years in the penal colony.
Brittney Griner being released from a Russian penal colony after the Biden administration was able to reach a deal with the Kremlin on a prisoner swap
Griner landed in the US state of Texas in December (pictured), footage broadcast on CNN and Fox News showed, after she was released from a Russian prison in exchange for a notorious arms dealer
Suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout, center, is led by armed Thai police commandos as he arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand in Oct. 5, 2010. Russia has freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
Brittney Griner’s wife Cherelle thanked the Biden administration for ending what she called ‘the darkest moments of my life’ when Griner was released from a Russian penal colony and flown home to the US in December
The Biden administration insisted Putin left them with a choice of bringing home Griner or no one in the swap with Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. supermax jail for trying to sell arms to Colombian rebel groups.
Bout has also been tied with trying to sell arms to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and was a former intelligence officer in the Soviet Union.
The Pentagon has, according to reports, raised concerns he could return to dealing arms now he is back in his home country and Republicans have said the deal means that Americans could be detained abroad simply so adversaries can engage in a prisoner swap.
Gershkovich and Whelan are not the only Americans stuck in Russian jail; David Barnes, 65, from Texas, was arrested in Moscow in January 2022 on charges of abusing his children in the US.
Barnes traveled to Moscow in December 2021 to win the right to either see his children or bring them back home.
Marc Fogel, a 60-year-old English teacher, was arrested at a Moscow airport in 2021 for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana.
He was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony after prosecutors claimed he intended to sell the drugs to his students.
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