The Russian prisoner swap made history. Here's how it happened.

Two prominent American hostages, journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, were among 24 people released in a complicated political prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia on Aug. 1.

The trade, which also involved Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia, is the largest such exchange in decades. It took a year to negotiate, the White House said.

Gershkovich and Whelan were two of 16 prisoners released by Russia. In return, Western nations sent eight prisoners to Russia, including a Russian convicted of murdering a Chechen militant in 2019.

Paste BN charted the movements of those who were released in the multi-country exchange. Here is what we found.

Where were the prisoners being held?

The exchange took place in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish intelligence provided logistical support.

Of the 16 prisoners released to the West, 15 came from Russia. One came from Belarus.

Those sent to the U.S. included:

• Evan Gershkovich, 32; American; Wall Street Journal reporter charged with espionage in March 2023. Sentenced to 16 years in prison.
• Paul Whelan, 54; has citizenship with the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland; former U.S. Marine arrested in Moscow in December 2018 on charges of spying. Sentenced to 16 years in prison.
• Alsu Kurmasheva, 47; has citizenship with the U.S. and Russia; editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was arrested in October 2023 and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. Sentenced to 6 ½ years.

Thirteen were sent to Germany:

• Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, a journalist who is a permanent U.S. resident and holds citizenship in Russian and the U.K., sentenced in Russia to 25 years for criticizing war against Ukraine.
• Ksenia Fadeyeva, 32, Russian dissident and organizer with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s foundation; imprisoned for organizing an extremist group.
• Oleg Orlov, 71; political dissident and human rights activist who was jailed for criticizing Russia and the Ukraine war.
• Ilya Yashin, 41, opposition figure who was imprisoned for disseminating false news about the Russian military.
• Kevin Lik, 19, holds dual citizenship in Russia and Germany; convicted of treason in December 2023 for taking photos of Russian military sites.
• Rico Krieger, 30, German citizen; sentenced to death in Belarus for terrorism.
• Dieter Voronin, 45, charged with aiding an executive of the space agency Roscosmos who was accused of treason.
• Patrick Schobel, 38, accused of drug trafficking after being found with cannabis gummy bears.
• Herman Moyzhes, 39, German citizen and lawyer; charged with treason for assisting Russians get permits for residence in Europe.
• Vadim Ostanin, 46, sentenced to nine years for being a member of an extremist organization.
• Andrei Pivovarov, 42, head of a Russian opposition group; jailed for leading an undesirable organization.
• Aleksandra Skochilenko, 33, an artist who was sentenced to seven years for putting anti-war statements on grocery story price labels.
• Liliya Chanysheva, 42, ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny; she was jailed on charges of extremism.

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Where did prisoner exchange take place?

Eight Western-held prisoners were sent to Russia. Three were in the U.S.:

• Roman Seleznev, 40, sentenced to 27 years for credit-card and indentity theft crimes.
• Vladislav Klyushin, 42, sentenced to 9 years for stealing corporate trade information.
• Vadim Konoshchenok, 48, a suspected Russian intelligence agent facing charges in the U.S.

Another great deal for Putin: Trump criticizes prisoner swap

STORY: :: August 3, 2024 :: Atlanta, Georgia :: Trump says Putin 'made yet another great deal' on the recent prisoner exchange :: "I'd like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal. Did you see the deal we made? Now, look, we want to get people in. You know, we got 59 hostages. I never paid anything." :: The Trump administration oversaw at least four prisoner swaps

From Germany:

• Vadim Krasikov, 58, convicted of killing a Chechen rebel in Berlin.

From Slovenia:

• Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, a Russian couple living in Slovenia who pleaded guilty to espionage charges.

From Norway:

• Mikhail Mikushin, charged with being a spy.

From Poland:

• Pavel Rubtsov, charged with espionage.

Contributing: Kristen Jordan Shamus, Kinsey Crowley, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Christopher Cann, Jorge L. Ortiz, Michael Collins, Francesca Chambers, Kim Hjelmgaard and Joey Garrison.

Source: Paste BN Network reporting and research; Reuters