Nine Russian activists and an American citizen have been unexpectedly moved from Russian prisons in recent days, and other Russians held in US prisons have disappeared from prison databases, fueling speculation that a major prisoner swap that includes Russia, the United States and several other European countries, may be under development.
No government official in Washington, Moscow or elsewhere has commented on the possibility of a swap; however, analysts on August 1 pointed to signs that what could be the largest of its kind since the Cold War.
I still have no comment on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 1 when asked by reporters about it.
Defense lawyers for several high-profile people held in Russian prisons have said their clients’ whereabouts were unknown, a situation that often arises when prisoners are moved. Among them are opposition activists, including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin and others.
Olga Karlova, a lawyer for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, said on July 31 that she does not know where her client is and that authorities at the prison in the Mordovia region where he is being held have ignored requests to confirm whether he is in prison.
Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage that he and Washington deny, is one of more than 10 American citizens currently being held in Russian prisons, accused or convicted of charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage.
In many cases, the allegations against the Americans, which include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe editor Alsu Kurmasheva, have been labeled by their employers or the US government as fabricated or politically motivated.
I still have no comment on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 1 when asked by reporters about it.
Defense lawyers for several high-profile people held in Russian prisons have said their clients’ whereabouts were unknown, a situation that often arises when prisoners are moved. Among them are opposition activists, including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin and others.
Olga Karlova, a lawyer for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, said on July 31 that she does not know where her client is and that authorities at the prison in the Mordovia region where he is being held have ignored requests to confirm whether he is in prison.
Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage that he and Washington deny, is one of more than 10 American citizens currently being held in Russian prisons, accused or convicted of charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage.
In many cases, the allegations against the Americans, which include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe editor Alsu Kurmasheva, have been labeled by their employers or the US government as fabricated or politically motivated.
The plane, with the number RA-61727, then left for Moscow, the group said, which “may indicate that the exchange of political prisoners took place at the border with Poland”.
Data from flight-tracking site Flightradar24 confirmed the plane’s movements, while Russian media, Agenstvo, reported that several special Russian government planes have been traveling to and from regions where dissidents are held in recent days.
Meanwhile, four Russians indicted or imprisoned in the United States have disappeared from a prisoner database operated by the US Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Among those four prisoners is Vladislav Klyushin, a Kremlin-linked IT entrepreneur serving a multi-year sentence on insider trading charges, and Aleksandr Vinnik, who recently pleaded guilty to money laundering charges and has been free pending sentencing.
The largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War took place in 2010 and involved a total of 14 people.
In that exchange, the United States freed 10 Russians, including Anna Chapman.
Sergei Skripal, a Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, was among four people released by Moscow./REL/
