Speculation about a potential major prisoner swap between the US and Russia bubbled up this week.
Russian and US officials have not confirmed or commented on a potential prisoner swap. The US State Department and the Russian embassy in the US did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Russian prison officials told Reuters on Wednesday that Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian dissident and Putin rival who was imprisoned for criticizing the war in Ukraine, was moved from the penal colony in Siberia where he was being held.
He was among several prisoners who have recently been moved from Russian prisons, fueling the mounting speculation that a prisoner swap was coming.
Paul Whelan, a former US marine accused of espionage, also disappeared from the Russian prison where he was being held, his lawyer said, according to Reuters.
“There are rumors about a possible exchange,” Whelan’s lawyer, Olga Karlova, said to Interfax, a Russian news agency, according to The Washington Post. “I sent a request to the colony administration, but they are not responding.”
Senior Russian officials have said Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is among the prisoners that could be swapped in a potential exchange, The Post reported.
Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 and accused of espionage, a charge that he, the Journal, and US officials have denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this month.
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