Summary
Three US citizens freed in a Russian-West prisoner swap are back on American soil after landing in Maryland
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva are greeted by US President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris and reunited with their families
Biden thanks his allies who he said made the "toughest call" to release the prisoners
The deal frees 24 detainees from seven countries. Ten people, including two minors, were relocated to Russia
It had been more than 18 months in the making and is believed to have hinged on Moscow's demand for the return of hitman Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany
Live Reporting
Edited by Sophie Abdulla
Want to know more? Six pieces which explain how the swap unfoldedpublished at 10:57 British Summer Time 2 August
10:57 BST 2 August
We're going to pause our live coverage of the Russia-West prisoner swap now, but there's plenty of news and analysis across the BBC site from our international correspondents to help you make sense of this historic deal:
- For the latest updates, you can read our full write up of what unfolded in the past 24 hours here
- The prisoner exchange involved 24 people across seven countries. See the full list of freed detainees
- How was the deal struck? Over two years in high stakes secret talks, this piece explains
- Plus our Russia correspondent Steve Rosenberg delves into how the stage was set in his analysis piece
- Finally, you can watch the prisoners being welcomed back to the US and Russia
Thanks for joining us.
Hugs, tears and exhausted elation: Freed prisoners return home after historic dealpublished at 10:53 British Summer Time 2 August
10:53 BST 2 August
Thank you for following our coverage of the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War. As we bring this page to a close, here's a wrap of developments:
- Former US marine Paul Whelan, and reporters Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva were greeted by US President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris at Joint Airbase Andrews
- Their families, which had also gathered at the air base near Washington DC, welcomed them with hugs and tears. The three Americans were flown from Turkey, which brokered the swap
- Biden hailed his allies whom he said made the "toughest call" to release prisoners, while Harris remarked that it was "an incredible day"
- In total, 24 prisoners in seven different countries - the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus - were exchanged in the Turkish capital Ankara
- President Vladimir Putin met the prisoners returningto Russia on their arrival in Moscow and said they would be givenstate awards
- The deal had been more than 18 months in the making and is believed to have hinged on Moscow's demand for the return of Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for carrying out an assassination
Watch: Freed Americans arrive in Texas for medical checkspublished at 10:44 British Summer Time 2 August
10:44 BST 2 August
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and US Marine veteran Paul Whelan have arrived in San Antonio in Texas to undergo medical evaluation.
They'll be assessed at Brooke Army Medical Center - the same facility basketball player Brittney Griner was taken to, following her release from Russian detention in December 2022.
What could authoritarian leaders conclude from prisoner swap?published at 10:31 British Summer Time 2 August
10:31 BST 2 August
Jeremy Bowen
International EditorIt was a very complex deal, which involved long, tortuous negotiations, clandestine meetings.
Clearly, there were reminders of the Cold War here.
But we live now in a different kind of troubled and fractured world.
And I think what we have to conclude from this is that authoritarian leaders, perhaps President Putin, perhaps others, will be looking at what’s happened and thinking "hmm, this works – arresting foreign citizens, putting them in jail, keeping them for barter, that is a good way to exert pressure on an enemy."
What was Germany's role in the swap?published at 10:17 British Summer Time 2 August
10:17 BST 2 August
Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe correspondent, in BerlinIn all of this, Germany has played a pivotal role. Twelve people were flown into Cologne late last night: a mixture of Russian dissidents and German nationals released from jail.
Among the former is politician Ilya Yashin who’d been serving 8.5 years for condemning Russia’s killing of civilians in Ukraine - and the full-scale invasion.
Sasha Skochilenko is now in Germany, too. She got a staggering seven year sentence for stickers in a supermarket against the war. Her family say the last few days, waiting for news of her release, have been agonising.
Among the five Germans set free are Rico Krieger, just given a death sentence then pardoned in Belarus – as part of the careful choreography ahead of the swap. He was accused of planting explosives by a train line, on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence.
Teenager Kevin Lik has also been freed, a dual national accused of taking photos of military sites in Russia.
See AlsoAll Celebrity News on LinkedIn: Madonna, 66, Spotted Out On Vacation w/ Her Young BoyfriendUnraveling The Mystery: What Happened To Charles Flenory?Garden State of Mind: For fast-talking ex-con, redemption comes slowlyUnveiling The Age Of Big Meech: A Journey Through TimeGermany has paid a hefty price for this deal, handing over a Russian FSB assassin who killed a former Chechen fighter in central Berlin. To Vladimir Putin, Vadim Krasikov was a patriot and he insisted on getting his man back.
Here, the Chancellor has described agreeing to that as very hard. In the end, he said, the swap was also about protecting German citizens, about solidarity with the US – and about standing up for those Russians who had stood up for democracy and freedom and been punished for that.
Why did the swap take place in Ankara, Turkey?published at 10:07 British Summer Time 2 August
10:07 BST 2 August
Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter
Image source, EPAFor a long time now, Turkey has managed - more or less successfully - to strike a balance between being a partner of the West and continuing to work with Moscow. It has hosted Ukraine peace talks and has never imposed sanctions on Russia - while providing support to Kyiv and remaining a member of Nato.
This balancing act is likely what made Ankara an acceptable spot for the prisoner swap, which the Turkish National Intelligence Agency said it coordinated.
"Our organisation has undertaken a major mediation role in this exchange operation,“ the agency said.
Choosing Turkey as a location for the exchange meant neither the US nor Russia had to land their planes in a hostile country. It’s a win for Moscow, Washington, and Ankara too.
'No word is strong enough for this', says freed Britain-Russian nationalpublished at 09:57 British Summer Time 2 August
09:57 BST 2 August
The family of British-Russian national Vladimir Kara-Murza received a phone call from him in the Oval Office with president Joe Biden, in a video posted on X, external.
“No word is strong enough for this," Kara-Murza says.
"I was sure I’m going to die in prison because I don’t believe what’s happening," he adds, saying: "I still think I’m sleeping in my prison cell in Omsk instead of hearing your voice."
He tells Biden "you’ve done a wonderful thing by saving so many people".
Husband of freed Russian-American journalist says she was 'denied basic human dignity'published at 09:34 British Summer Time 2 August
09:34 BST 2 August
Image source, ReutersThe husband of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, one of the freed detainees, has described the prisoner exchange as a "historic act of resolve and compassion by the US government and its allies".
Speaking to Radio Free Europe - shortly before being reunited with his wife - Pavel Butorin says Kurmasheva was "denied basic human dignity" in captivity.
"She was locked up in horrific prison conditions, denied phone calls with the children, denied consular visits as an American citizen, she was deprived of proper medical care and she was convicted in a secret trial for a crime she did not commit," he adds.
Kurmasheva had been jailed for six-and-a-half years on a charge of spreading false information about the Russian army.
US basketball player, previously jailed in Russia, says it's a 'great day'published at 09:16 British Summer Time 2 August
09:16 BST 2 August
Image source, ReutersUS basketball player Brittney Griner, who was released from detention in Russia in a prisoner swap in 2022, has welcomed the exchange.
Griner spent nearly 10 months in Russian custody, after being charged with carrying cannabis oil in her luggage and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Griner told journalists: "I'm head over heels, happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home, that's a win. That's a win."
'Evan Gershkovich is free': Wall Street Journal hails reporter's releasepublished at 09:00 British Summer Time 2 August
09:00 BST 2 August
Image source, The Wall Street Journal/XMore now on Evan Gershkovich's release, which the Wall Street Journal hails on the front page of Friday's paper.
It features a photo of Gershkovich embracing his mother alongside US President Joe Biden after arriving at Joint Airbase Andrews in Maryland following his detention in a Russian prison for almost 500 days.
The front page also reports on the release of US Marine veteran Paul Whelan.
'Evan was cheerful but exhausted' - WSJ editor on Gershkovich's return to USpublished at 08:45 British Summer Time 2 August
08:45 BST 2 August
Image source, Getty ImagesWe're now hearing from Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker who has been speaking to the BBC after a plane carrying reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other US citizens landed in Maryland.
Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, she describes his "big emotional reunion" with his mother: "He hoiked her off the ground!"
She says he was "very cheerful, very debonair" but that he looked "exhausted" and his skin was very pale.
"All the hostages looked a little bit shell-shocked," she continues.
Gershkovich had to write a "sort of pardon letter" to Putin as part of the deal freeing him, Tucker explains.
He did it himself as he was unable to consult a lawyer.
"A bit of it he filled out and... he put in a bid for an interview with Putin."
Moving forward, she says Gershkovich is an "extremely valued member of our newsroom" adding he's got a great story to tell that he "can tell in his own time".
Who are the released Russian prisoners?published at 08:35 British Summer Time 2 August
08:35 BST 2 August
Image source, ReutersEight Russian prisoners have been released from jails across the US, Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. The children of two of the prisoners also returned to Russia.
Among them is one of the most high-profile prisoners, Federal Security Service (FSB) agent Vadim Krasikov. He was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.
During his trial, prosecutors said he was acting on orders from Russia, and that he belonged to a highly secretive Vympel unit of the FSB.
Lawyers defending him insisted he was a construction worker, not a hitman. He denied being known as Krasikov, and identified himself as Vadim Sokolov, the name on the passport he was travelling with.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe list also includes Roman Seleznev who was found guilty of running a hacking scheme in 2017 that caused $169m (£131m) in damages.
US officials said he stole credit card data from restaurants, and sold it on the black market. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the scheme, which prosecutors say he ran between 2009 and 2013.
Putin greets Russian citizens released after prisoner swappublished at 08:22 British Summer Time 2 August
08:22 BST 2 August
Russian President Vladimir Putin met the released prisoners on their arrival in Moscow, saying they would be given state awards.
Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockImage source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockFeverish negotiations and secret talks: How historic deal was struckpublished at 08:05 British Summer Time 2 August
08:05 BST 2 August
Gareth Evans
BBC News, WashingtonImage source, Getty ImagesWhen a notorious Russian assassin and an American newspaper correspondent boarded separate planes in Turkey on Thursday, it marked the culmination of a secretive, dramatic prisoner swap deal between Russia and the West that was years in the making.
The origins of this deal, which involved two dozen prisoners, can be traced back to 2022.
But behind-the-scenes negotiations between Russia, the US and four European countries ramped up earlier this year before intensifying in recent weeks as a final agreement came into view for all sides.
Those negotiations were at times feverish and testing. They also came as US-Russia tensions soared over the Ukraine war.
"It was the culmination of many rounds of complex, painstaking negotiations over many, many months," Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser who played a critical role in the deal, said shortly after the exchange.
The early signals that Russia was open to prisoner swappublished at 07:51 British Summer Time 2 August
07:51 BST 2 August
Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor“This is a matter best dealt with in silence.”
It’s the phrase of choice of Russian officials when asked to comment on possible East-West prisoner exchanges. Words we’ve been hearing for months.
This is how the Kremlin likes it: deal-making behind closed doors, "hostage diplomacy" far from the media spotlight. Intelligence service talking to intelligence service; government to government.
Until Moscow gets what – or rather whom – it wants.
But despite the "silence", there were signals. Something was moving.
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last February, Vladimir Putin spoke about Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who had been arrested in Russia and charged with espionage.
“I do not rule out that Mr Gershkovich may return to his homeland,” Putin said. “We want the US special services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing.”
It was a very public and unsubtle hint: Moscow was open to doing a deal.
The Kremlin leader didn’t name names. But he made it quite clear whom Russia wanted in return: Vadim Krasikov, the suspected Russian agent who was serving a life sentence for murder - not in America, but in Germany.
You can read more about the behind-the-scenes that led to the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War here.
Politics put to one side for now as freed prisoners reunite with familiespublished at 07:41 British Summer Time 2 August
07:41 BST 2 August
Will Grant
Reporting from Joint Airbase Andrews in MarylandAs the three American prisoners stepped back onto US soil, it marked the end of their ordeal in Russia and the defining moment of the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Evan Gershkovich had spent almost 500 days in a Russian prison, Paul Whelan five years and all three were visibly elated to return to their families.
Waiting to greet them on the tarmac at Joint Airbase Andrews were President Biden and Vice-President Harris.
Both stand to gain politically from having achieved this most complex of diplomatic negotiations. That this prisoner swap was possible is even more remarkable given it came against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, with relations between Moscow and the west at their lowest ebb in decades.
For the time being, however, the politics is mainly being put to one side as the former prisoners savour the private moment of being reunited with their families.
Former political prisoner talks about the road aheadpublished at 07:28 British Summer Time 2 August
07:28 BST 2 August
The Americans involved in the prisoner swap have "a lot to navigate" as they return to the US, says Jason Rezaian, who was imprisoned in Iran for 544 days.
Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist, was formerly the Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post. He was convicted of espionage in 2014.
He said the "initial euphoria" of returning home came along with bureaucratic processes like addressing overdue bills.
Rezaian advises the US citizens who were held in Russia to "Take your time, think about all that you've experienced, all that you have endured, all of the pain and suffering that you and your family have gone through, before you go out there and start talking about the experience."
Russian critic Yashin posts first photo after releasepublished at 07:15 British Summer Time 2 August
07:15 BST 2 August
Image source, IlyaYashin on XOne of Russia's most prominent opposition figures, Ilya Yashin, has posted about his release on X., external
He is one of 12 people who were flown into Germany's Cologne late last night: a mixture of Russian dissidents and German nationals released from jail.
According to a translated post on X, he said: "I'll tell you everything soon. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who [was] worried. I'll hug you all!"
Yashin was jailed in 2022 for eight-and-a-half years for spreading "fake news" about the country's military.
One of few Kremlin critics to stay in Russia after it invaded Ukraine, Yashin continued to speak out against the war.
He was arrested after he condemned suspected Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Soon after the invasion, Russia made reporting "false information" a crime.
Read more about his imprisonment here.
Family of US prisoner in Russia feel 'stabbed in the back'published at 07:07 British Summer Time 2 August
07:07 BST 2 August
Image source, Russian Interior MinistryThree US citizens have now been released but the family of Marc Fogel, an American teacher who is serving a 14-year prison sentence in Russia for illegal possession of cannabis, has criticised the deal for not including him.
“It’s been a rollercoaster, no sleep,” his sister Anne Fogel told CNN. “I feel like we’ve been kind of collectively stabbed in the back.”
Earlier, she told US public broadcaster PBS that she had spoken to her brother the day before the swap, and had kept hoping that he may be included in the deal at the last minute.
"It was just really hard to let it go," she said.
She went on to attack the Biden administration for not prioritising her brother's release.
"We don't have the WNBA behind us and we don't have The Wall Street Journal behind us," she said, referring to other prisoners freed from Russia.
"So it's been very difficult for us to get our man out," she said.
Famous spy swaps throughout historypublished at 06:54 British Summer Time 2 August
06:54 BST 2 August
Image source, Getty ImagesPrison transfers between the USSR (and later, Russia) and countries in the West have been making headlines for decades.
Here's a look at some notable swaps:
- In 1962, US spy pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for Soviet officer Rudolf Abel. Abel was born in Great Britain as William Fischer and had been arrested in the US in 1957. Powers had been shot down in 1960 while flying a high-altitude spy mission over central Russia
- In 2010, the US arrested 10 Russian sleeper agents living in the US under false pretences, and exchanged them for four Russian citizens, including Sergei Skripal - who had been accused of being a double agent working with British intelligence. Skripal went on to live in the UK where he nearly died after being poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent, allegedly by the Russians
- In 2022, US basketball star Brittney Griner was released in exchange for Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout - the so-called "Merchant of Death". The WNBA player had been arrested 10 months earlier at a Moscow airport for possession of cannabis
