Donald Trump is under fire for what critics say are false claims that he secured the release of American prisoners without reciprocity. During the Presidential debate against President Biden in Atlanta, Trump claimed that only he could negotiate the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from a Russian jail, adding that he had secured the release of several US citizens during his Presidency and gave nothing in return. Critics say, however, that while Trump did secure the release of some Americans, he did so in exchange for prisoners held in the US.
Furthermore, in late July, Evan Gershkovich finally returned to the US, where he met with President Biden at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The release was negotiated in Turkey and involved the largest prisoner exchange between the US and Russia since the Cold War. Countries engaged in negotiations included Germany, Norway, Poland, and Slovenia. Also released was Paul Whelan, who was serving a sentence for espionage in Russia, as well as Alsu Kurmasheva, an American-Russian dual national held since last year, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British citizen given a 25-year jail for “discrediting the armed forces.”
In return, ten people were released from Western prisons and sent back to Russia. These included Vadim Krasikov, a hitman convicted of murder in Germany in 2021.
When safely back on American soil, Evan Gershkovich told journalists that he had met several political prisoners during his time in jail and hoped to see action taken for their release. He mentioned that many prisoners are linked to leading Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died under mysterious circumstances in an Arctic jail earlier this year. But Gershkovich emphasized that many inmates are concerned with other causes and detained for expressing various political beliefs. “I’d like to talk to people about that in the next weeks and months,” Gershkovich said.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was greeted in Maryland by hundreds of fellow journalists, including colleagues and friends. Gershkovich had spent 491 days in jail, having been accused of spying for the US government. Moscow insisted he had been “caught red-handed,” and it had “incontrovertible proof” of his guilt.
