Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) conducted the largest exchange operation in recent times. The operation involved the mutual exchange of a total of 26 people who were in prisons of 7 different countries (USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus) in Ankara.
Points of attention
- The prisoner exchange operation in Turkey conducted by MIT involved 26 individuals from 7 countries, making it the largest in recent times.
- The exchanged prisoners included a diverse group, ranging from political prisoners to individuals convicted of cybercrimes and espionage.
- The operation facilitated the safe transportation of the prisoners back to their respective countries using 7 planes for the exchange.
- The exchange included prominent figures such as a reporter from The Wall Street Journal, a Russian killer, and Russian spies among others.
- The successful mediation by MIT showcased effective intelligence diplomacy, creating a historic moment in prisoner exchanges between the USA, Russia, and Germany.
26 prisoners from 7 countries were exchanged in Ankara
As part of the operation, persons were exchanged and transported to Turkey by a total of 7 planes: 2 from the USA and 1 each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia; 10 hostages were transferred to Russia, 13 hostages to Germany and 3 hostages to the USA.
Among others, the "Tiergarten murderer" Vadym Krasykov will be handed over to Russia. An agent of the Russian special services was caught in 2019 after a contract killing in the capital of Germany. Krasikov shot Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In addition to Putin's killer Krasikov, other Russians who were in prison, in particular, for cybercrimes, should be released.
Among the released people are also:
The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Hershkovich,
US Marine Paul Whelan, who were imprisoned in the Russian Federation,
German citizen Rico Krieger, who was in prison in Belarus,
Russian dissidents Ilya Yashin and Volodymyr Kara-Murza.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will make a statement this evening regarding the historic exchange of prisoners. According to BILD, he wants to personally receive the hostages released by Russia.
This operation went down in history as the largest exchange of hostages between the USA, Russia and Germany in recent years. MIT ensured the creation of dialogue channels for this historic operation. The parties were brought together in Turkey in July 2024 by MİT, an organization that effectively uses intelligence diplomacy. MIT successfully carried out its mediation activities from the beginning to the end of the negotiations.
Due to the large number of hostages to be exchanged, all people were removed from the planes under the supervision of MİT officers and transferred to safe areas. On the spot, representatives of all parties signed the exchange agreement and documented the health status of each participant. After that, they were all put on the planes of their countries.
Who was exchanged on August 1 in Turkey
The Russian Federation today exchanged prisoners with the USA and Germany. In particular, political prisoners held in the Russian Federation were exchanged for Russian spies.
According to The Insider, Russia and Belarus released, in particular, political prisoners:
Ilya Yashin — the Moscow court sentenced him to 8.5 years in a general regime colony under the article on spreading "fakes" about the Russian army, which at that time became the harshest sentence under this article.
Volodymyr Kara-Murza — the court sentenced the activist and publicist to 25 years in prison on charges of spreading "fakes" about the army, cooperation with an undesirable organization and treason.
Alsa Kurmasheva is a Radio Liberty journalist who was convicted because she did not come to inform the Russian Federation that she was a possible "foreign agent".
Andrii Pivovarov — former head of "Otkrytoy Rossii". A criminal case was opened against him under the article on the implementation of activities of an undesirable organization.
Oleg Orlov , a 70-year-old human rights activist, the head of "Memorial" initiated a criminal case in 2023. During the investigation, Orlov was stopped from writing an article in which he called Russia's hostilities in Ukraine "a heavy blow to the future of the country."
Oleksandra Skochylenko was detained for allegedly spreading information about the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the "Perekrestok" store: instead of the price tags of the goods, the girl inserted a message about civilians killed during the shelling of the Mariupol Drama Theater.
Liliya Chanysheva is the former chief of staff of Oleksii Navalny in Ufa. She became the first defendant in the case of the creation of an "extremist community" after the FBK and Navalny's headquarters were recognized as such.
Ksenia Fadeeva is the former head of Navalny's staff in Tomsk. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison on the charge of organizing the activities of an extremist community using his official position.
Evan Hershkovych is a journalist of The Wall Street Journal, sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for an article about espionage.
Rico Krieger is a former employee of the German Red Cross. The doctor was detained in Belarus. He was charged with six counts: illegal actions in relation to firearms, making transportation or means of communication unusable, creating or participating in an extremist formation, agent activity, mercenary and an act of terrorism. On July 30, 2024, Oleksandr Lukashenko pardoned Krieger.
Kevin Leek — 18-year-old Leek became the first schoolboy convicted of treason in Russia.
Demuri Voronina is a citizen of Russia and Germany, a political scientist, involved in the case of journalist Ivan Safronov. They accused him of allegedly receiving information from Safronov, which he then sold to foreign intelligence agencies.
Vadym Ostanin is the former head of Navalny's Barnaul headquarters.
Patrika Schöbel is a German citizen. In January 2024, he was detained in Pulkovo because of six marmalades, in which experts found marijuana.
Paul Whelan is an American serviceman and former Marine. He was arrested in 2018, when he flew to Russia for the wedding of his former colleague. In June 2020, he was found guilty of espionage against Russia and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison.
Herman Moyzhesa is a lawyer, an ideologue of the bicycle movement. Citizen of Germany and Russia. He was accused of treason.
Whom Russia got instead
Vadym Krasykov is a hitman who became an executor in a number of contract killings, including businessman Oleksandr Kozlov in Karelia in 2007, businessman Albert Nazranov, and Chechen refugee Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
After Khangoshvili's murder, Russia denied any involvement, but The Insider managed to find the real name of "Sokolov" and documents confirming his affiliation with the intelligence services, after which he received a life sentence in Germany. After that, Putin stopped hiding his connection with Krasikov, called the killer a "patriot" and publicly announced his desire to exchange him for Evan Hershkovich.
Spouses Artem and Anna Dultseva lived in Slovenia, pretending to be Argentine citizens named Ludwig Gish and Maria Rosa Mayer Muñoz. They were detained in Ljubljana. Based on the studied data of their biographies, they more likely belong to the GRU illegals.
Pavlo Rubtsov , a GRU agent who posed as Spanish journalist Pablo Gonzalez, was detained by Poland at the Polish-Ukrainian border and accused of espionage for Russia.
Roman Seleznev is a Russian hacker who was sentenced in the US to 27 years in prison for computer fraud and identity theft.
Vladyslav Klyushin — the Boston court in the USA found him guilty of insider trading and sentenced him to 9 years in prison.
Mykhailo Mikushyn — in May 2022, a court in Norway charged him with espionage.
Vadym Konoshchenok is one of the members of the Sernia smuggling network. The companies included in this network illegally exported high-tech equipment from the USA and supplied it to Russian state companies through EU countries.
