International deal: Spectacular prisoner exchange between Moscow and the West

Russia, Belarus and several Western countries have exchanged a total of 26 prisoners in an unprecedented operation involving the Turkish secret service MIT. In return for the release of political prisoners and Kremlin critics, Germany, the USA and partner countries released a convicted murderer and actors suspected of espionage from Russia.

For example, Germany handed over the so-called Tiergarten murderer at the airport in the Turkish capital Ankara. Belarus released the German Rico K., who was initially sentenced to death and later pardoned. The German Patrick S., who was arrested at the airport in Saint Petersburg for having cannabis gummy bears in his luggage, was also handed over to Germany. Russia also released the Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who had been convicted of espionage, and the former US soldier Paul Whelan.

Scholz interrupts vacation – Putin welcomes returnees

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) interrupted his vacation and plans to meet with those released late Thursday evening at Cologne/Bonn Airport. He previously said: “Nobody took this decision lightly to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years in prison.” The difficult decision was made jointly by the coalition after careful consultation and consideration.

Scholz spoke of an obligation to protect German citizens and solidarity with the USA. According to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, the deal with Russia was only possible “by transferring Russian citizens with a secret service background who were in custody in Europe”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally received Russians released by the West in Moscow on Thursday evening. The Kremlin chief hugged at least one of the men on the tarmac, where the presidential guard was lined up, as television images released by the Kremlin showed. A total of ten people were handed over to Russia, including two children according to Turkish sources – their ages were not disclosed. On the other hand, five Germans, three US citizens, one person with a US work and residence permit (green card) and seven Russian citizens were released, including prominent Kremlin opponents such as Vladimir Kara-Mursa and Ilya Yashin.

Biden thanks Scholz

US President Joe Biden appeared in front of the cameras in Washington together with relatives of the Americans released from Russian custody: “Above all, I owe a great debt of gratitude to the Chancellor.” In view of the demands from Russia, he had to ask for “significant concessions” from Germany. Several partners had made “courageous” decisions by releasing prisoners who were rightly held in their countries – in order to ultimately bring Americans home.

Secret service speaks of historic operation

According to MIT, the 26 prisoners had previously been flown to Ankara from Russia, the USA, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia, where they had been imprisoned. All of them were first taken to safe places and medically examined, and documents were signed. Finally, ten people were flown to Russia. 13 of those affected were flown to Germany and three to the USA, it said. The secret service spoke of a historic exchange and the most extensive between Russia, the USA and Germany in recent times.

Among the German citizens who were released, in addition to Rico K. and Patrick S., were the 19-year-old German-Russian Kevin L. and the political scientist Demuri W., who had both been convicted of treason, and the activist German M., who was accused of treason.

Information about exchange had become increasingly dense

For days, speculation about a major prisoner exchange had been increasing. There had been reports of numerous political prisoners in Russia being transferred to unknown locations, including the former heads of the regional staff of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in custody. Since Wednesday evening, information about a major international deal has been growing ever more dense.

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who has been criticized for using political prisoners as hostages to force the release of Russians from Western prisons, has recently repeatedly declared his willingness to make an exchange. Putin was particularly interested in the “Tiergarten murderer” imprisoned in Germany.

Various events recently indicated that the matter was moving forward: just two weeks ago, after a long period of pre-trial detention in Russia, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged espionage in a short trial. On the same day, a Russian court sentenced the American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was also released according to US sources, to six and a half years in a penal colony for allegedly spreading false reports about the army.

Observers in Moscow interpreted Gershkovich’s quick conviction as a possible indication that an agreement on a prisoner exchange could soon be reached. According to Russian judicial practice, a verdict must usually be reached before an exchange can take place.

Death sentence against German just overturned

Also on the day the two US journalists were sentenced, it became public that the German Rico K. had been sentenced to death in Russia’s neighboring country Belarus. A few days ago, ruler Alexander Lukashenko overturned the sentence after the German was shown in a video on Belarusian state television in which he pleaded guilty and asked for mercy. Here, too, there had been speculation that an exchange for the “Tiergarten murderer” Vadim K. could possibly be negotiated behind the scenes.

“Tiergarten murderer” was last incarcerated in Offenburg

In 2019, Vadim K. murdered a Georgian in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten park. The Berlin Regional Court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2021. Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly defended the murderer because, from Russia’s point of view, he had eliminated an enemy of the state. Russian authorities had classified him as a Chechen terrorist. There had been repeated speculation that Putin wanted to free K. in the course of a prisoner exchange.

According to dpa information, Wadim K., who had been transferred from one prison to another several times for security reasons, was most recently incarcerated in Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg. The decision to release him was not made by the Attorney General Jens Rommel, who is responsible for such cases, but by the Federal Ministry of Justice. When asked, a spokeswoman said that the Attorney General is generally responsible for suspending the execution of sentences. In the case of Wadim K., however, the ministry had instructed him in writing last Monday to suspend the execution in order to enable the prisoner exchange.