Russia freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as well as jailed Kremlin critics in the largest prisoner exchange with the West in decades, in return for a prized assassin sought by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Now, their brutal ordeal is over and they’re free,” U.S. President Joe Biden said at a White House appearance with family members of some of the released prisoners. "The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship.”
The swap, which took place on the airport tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, included two dozen people, 16 going to the West and eight being returned to Russia. Among them were other American citizens as well as Russians convicted of crimes and imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia.