VLADIMIR Putin’s number one enemy Alexei Navalny should have been included in Russia’s historic prisoner swap, a US official said.
The opposition leader, locked up in Russia’s brutal gulag system in 2021, died in custody under mysterious circumstances in February.
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His death under the watch of Putin’s prison guards threatened to collapse one of the largest and most complicated swaps between the West and Russia in history.
American journalist Evan Gershkovich was one of 16 political prisoners to be freed after the months of crunch negotiations and top-secret diplomatic talks.
Evan spent 491 days behind bars in the same system of Russian gulags which killed Kremlin critic Navalny.
Putin’s twisted regime used those jailed on trumped up charges as bargaining chips to see a Russian killer released from German jail yesterday.
Ultimately, assassin Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin, acted as the linchpin for the historic deal.
Russia made it clear no deal was possible without the release of convicted killer Krasikov, a decision that rested in German hands.
But after Navalny was cared for in Berlin following his Kremlin-linked poisoning in 2020, there were concerns his death could derail talks of Krasikov’s release.
The deal was first set in motion in January during talks between US President Joe Biden and German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed yesterday that they were pushing to secure Navalny’s release as part of the swap.
A senior US official told the Financial Times that Scholz said at the time: “For you, I will do this”, referring to Krasikov.
Days after Scholz agreed to release the convicted Russian killer, Navalny mysteriously died.
The US official said those involved in negotiating the exchange deal “felt like the wind had been taken out of our sails” after hearing of his death.
But Sullivan “felt differently, and he stressed to both [Evan’s parents] Ella [Milman] and Mikhail [Gershkovich] that he still saw a path forward”.
He pushed for the team “not let Navalny’s death totally torpedo our opportunities to get these folks home” and to ensure the deal with Germany stayed alive.
The next day Vice President Kamala Harris met with Scholz in Munich to push for Krasikov’s inclusion in the deal.
In April Sullivan and Biden sent a letter to Scholz laying out the formal prisoner swap proposal.
And on July 21, just hours before Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, the final details were secured for yesterday’s exchange.
Biden later thanked Germany for releasing Krasikov and ensuring the swap could take place.
Navalny’s heartbroken widow, Yulia, slammed “evil” Putin and vowed to hold him accountable over her husband’s unexplained death earlier this year.
Following Thursday’s prisoner exchange, she called for the release of all political dissidents being kept in Russia.
She wrote on X: “Every released political prisoner is a huge victory and joy.
“No one should be held hostage by Putin, tortured or die in Putin’s prison. Freedom to all political prisoners.”
The mum-of-two also said “many different people came together” in the month her husband died, in an effort to save Putin’s prisoners.
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Life of Alexei Navalny
PUTIN’S best known opponent Alexei Navalny, 47, died in Russian prison in February 2024.
Here is a look at the life of the opposition leader who went from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
INSIDE HISTORIC PRISONER SWAP
WSJ reporter Evan, along with former US marine Paul Whelan and British-Russian journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, were freed on August 1.
A total of 24 prisoners were involved in the deal, 16 freed from Russian prisons and eight released from six other countries back to Russia.
At least four of the political dissidents released yesterday worked for Navalny, Biden revealed.
The US, Russia and Germany were all involved in the secret, large scale operation.
Their release was secured after months of crunch negotiations involving at least six countries and the highest levels of government in Russia, the US and Germany.
White House officials, diplomats and CIA agents scoured the Middle East searching for “friendly governments” who would consider releasing their Russian spies in exchange for the Western prisoners set free today.
President Biden described the deal as a “feat of diplomacy” on Thursday.
He said: “Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.”
The Wall Street Journal said Evan’s release was part of “the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War”.
The outlet added that the deal serves as evidence of “state-sponsored hostage-taking” by Russia, using people as bargaining chips.
Timeline of Evan Gershkovich’s detainment
FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on baseless accusations of espionage in March 2023.
Here is a timeline of key events:
FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on baseless accusations of espionage in March 2023.
Here is a timeline of key events:
Russia’s security service, the FSB, charged him with espionage – a charge that he, the WSJ and the US government deny.
They argued – without evidence – that he collected “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Day 12: April 10, 2023 – The US designated Gershkovich wrongfully detained and launched effort on Russia to free him.
Day 20: April 18, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld his pre-trial detention, denied him bail and ordered him to be held in the capital’s infamous Lefortovo prison.
Day 55: May 23, 2023 – Gershkovich’s detention was extended until at least August 30.
His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, travelled to the hearing and said “any parents who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for give minutes.”
Day 76: June 13, 2023 – The White House called on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich and also free former US marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020.
Day 85: June 22, 2023 – A Moscow court upheld the extension of Gershkovich’s detention until at least August 30.
Day 100: July 7, 2023 – The world’s press stood for solidarity with the reporter as his shameful detention reached 100 days.
Day 174: September, 19, 2023 – Gershkovich had another appeal for freedom blocked.
Day 195: October 10, 2023 – The US reporter had yet another appeal denied which would see his detention extended until at least November 30.
Day 244: November 28, 2023 – A court ruled Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least January 30.
Day 303: January 26, 2024 – The innocent journalist’s time behind bars was extended until the end of March.
Day 316: February 8, 2024 – Vladimir Putin tells US TV host Tucker Carlson a deal could be reached between Russia and the US over Gershkovich.
Day 363: March 26, 2024: Gershkovich’s detention will drag on until June 30 as he nears one year behind bars.
Day 442: June 13, 2024: Russian authorities announce he will stand trial over bogus accusations that the reporter was spying for the CIA
Day 455: June 26, 2024: Closed-door sham trial begins in Yekaterinburg at the Sverdlovsk courthouse with Evan appearing inside a glass cage
Day 478: July 19, 2024: Evan is sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison
Day 491: August 1, 2024: Evan is released as part of a historic prisoner exchange deal between Russia and the West
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The Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker shares a letter after Evan’s release
Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.
It is a joyous day for Evan’s family, friends and colleagues, who have worried about him and supported him these past 16 months.
It is a joyous day for the millions of well-wishers in the U.S. and around the world who stood with Evan and defended the free press.
And it is a joyous day for the relatives and friends of the other wrongfully detained Americans and German citizens who returned home and for the Russian political prisoners who were released to the West.
That it was done in a trade for Russian operatives guilty of serious crimes was predictable as the only solution given President Putin’s cynicism. We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit.
We are also grateful to the other governments that helped bring an end to Evan’s nightmare, in particular the German government that played such a critical role.
We know the U.S. government is keenly aware, as are we, that the only way to prevent a quickening cycle of arresting innocent people as pawns in cynical geopolitical games is to remove the incentive for Russia and other nations that pursue the same detestable practice. The ordeal of Evan and the other returnees—along with those Americans still being wrongfully detained around the world—demonstrates the urgent need for a change in the dynamic to prevent the future seizure of innocent hostages.
But for now, we are celebrating the return of Evan. While we waited for this momentous day, we were determined to be as loud as we could be on Evan’s behalf. We are so grateful for all the voices that were raised when his was silent. We can finally say, in unison, “Welcome home, Evan.”
It has been our honor to have got to know Evan’s family—Ella, Mikhail, Danielle and Anthony—and we have marveled at their good grace, fortitude and wisdom under such pressure. We can imagine and share in their joy and relief at the return of their son and brother.
I am proud of how forcefully the WSJ newsroom and Dow Jones responded to the call of a colleague in extreme distress. Now we and Evan’s many friends in the media and elsewhere can celebrate his return to freedom.
All those who spoke up for Evan and worked for his release—the U.S. and allied governments, Congress, the media industry, readers of the Journal, supporters of the free press, opponents of arbitrary detention, those moved by the plight of a young American journalist behind bars—can know that their support made a huge difference and is greatly, greatly appreciated.
My greatest thanks, though, must go to Evan himself.
The bogus case against him represented many significant things. A blow against press freedom. A warning to foreign journalists covering the Kremlin. A new tension in America’s relationship with Russia.
But at the center of it all was Evan, our 32-year-old Moscow correspondent from New Jersey, who likes to cook and supports Arsenal Football Club, and who loved living in and reporting on Russia.
He was our inspiration, the galvanizing force. We watched him deal with his absurd predicament with strength, composure, humor and a “heart-sign” from behind the walls of his courtroom glass cage. Along the way, we learned about his life and his history and understood why he is beloved by so many.
Now that Evan is home, we plan to give him as much time and space as he needs to restore himself, reconnect, and ponder the next steps in his life and career. We will be right there with him and his family. And we look forward to seeing him in the newsroom when he is ready.
I want to sign off by once again thanking all those who helped bring him home and rejoice that Evan and his fellow former detainees are reunited with their families.
We stand with them all,
Emma Tucker
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