Who joined Evan Gershkovich in East-West prisoner swap?

Journalists, dissidents and alleged assassins among those freed in historic exchange

Journalist Evan Gershkovich greets his mother as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, where he was welcomed by US President Joe Biden. AFP

Vice President Kamala Harris welcomes Gershkovich after he was released by Russia as part of a major exchange of detainees. AP

Mr Biden and Ms Harris with Gershkovich. The swap deal involved seven countries, including the Germany and Slovenia. Reuters

Former US Marine Paul Whelan is greeted by Mr Biden and Ms Harris after his release from Russian detention. Reuters

US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva embraces her daughters Miriam and Bibi as she arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. AFP

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at Cologne Bonn Airport after meeting detainees released in an exchange between Russia, Belarus and western nations. AP

A Russian security officer escorts Gershkovich to a plane after his release. He had been accused of spying and was sentenced to 16 years in jail. EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes released citizens at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, after the major agreement with the West. AFP

Mr Putin with Russian citizens released by the west. The swap deal was enabled by Turkey. AFP

Thursday's historic prisoner exchange featured the release of two dozen detainees including journalists, political activists, and alleged assassins and hackers.

In total, seven Russians were freed from prisons in the US, Germany and other western countries.

Russia and Belarus released more than a dozen people as part of the exchange.

There were also two children involved in the exchange who were not prisoners.

The National takes a look at the prisoners and detained people who were released.

Released by Russia and Belarus

Evan Gershkovich: Wall Street Journal reporter was accused of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison after being taken by Russian authorities while on a reporting trip in March 2023. His arrest spurred global calls for his release.

Paul Whelan: The corporate security executive from Michigan was arrested in 2018 over claims of espionage during a trip to a friend's wedding in Russia. He pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Alsu Kurmasheva: The dual US-Russian citizen and editor of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty publication was detained in October during a trip to visit her ailing mother, on Russian claims for not reporting as a foreign agent. She was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Vladimir Kara-Murza: The dual Russian-UK citizen, Pulitzer Prize winner and opposition politician was arrested in 2022 over Moscow's assertions of treason and other charges after criticising the war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Ilya Yashin: The Kremlin critic was serving an eight and a half year sentence for condemning Russia's war in Ukraine.

Andrei Pivovarov: The leader by Russian opposition group, Open Russia, was pulled off a flight and arrested in 2021. He was convicted of conducting activities for an “undesirable” organisation and sentenced to four years in prison.

Oleg Orlov: The human rights campaigner was convicted of discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to two and half years in prison in February over his protests against the war in Ukraine.

Sasha Skochilenko: The activist was sentenced to seven years in prison in November, accused of placing anti-war slogans on price tags in a supermarket.

Ksenia Fadeyeva, Lilia Chanysheva and Vadim Ostanin: The three were sentenced for extremism after Russia cracked down on regional offices allegedly supporting the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny's political network.

Kevin Lik: The dual Russian-German citizen was arrested in February for allegedly taking pictures of a military unit and sending the photos to a “representative of a foreign state”. He was sentenced to four years in prison for treason. Rights activists say he was the youngest person convicted of that crime – when he was arrested, he was only 17.

Rico Krieger: The German medical worker was sentenced to death over claims of terrorist activities in Belarus. However, he was pardoned on Tuesday by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Demuri Voronin: The dual Russian-German citizen and political scientist with close relations to journalists was accused of treason by Russian authorities and sentenced to more than 13 years in prison.

Patrick Schoebel: The German citizen had been detained in Russia since February for allegedly possessing a psychoactive component of cannabis while travelling through St Petersburg.

German Moyzhes: The dual Russian-German citizen, who works as a migration lawyer helping Russians apply for EU residence permits, was arrested in May.

Released by the West

Vadim Krasikov: The Russian was serving a life sentence in Germany, convicted of fatally shooting a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity in Berlin in 2021. German judges concluded it was an assassination ordered by Russia.

Pavel Rubtsov: The Spanish journalist was arrested in Poland after allegedly conducting espionage activities for Russia after the country invaded Ukraine. He denied the claims.

Roman Seleznev: The Russian hacker was sentenced to 27 years in a US prison after being convicted of hacking into more than 500 businesses, stealing millions of credit card numbers and selling the information.

Vladislav Klyushin: The Russian was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted for wire fraud and securities fraud in a nearly $100 million scheme banking on secret earnings information stolen by hacking US computer networks.

Vadim Konoshchenok: The alleged Russian officer in the country's Federal Security Service was in the US facing charges on smuggling ammunition and dual-use technology to help Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Artem Dultsev, Anna Dultseva: The Russian couple were arrested on espionage charges in Slovenia in 2022, and they pleaded guilty on Wednesday. They were sentenced to 19 months in prison and released on time served.

Mikhail Mikushin: He was arrested in Norway in 2022 on espionage charges and had been detained since.