00:00Today is Friday, August 2, 2024.
00:04Decoding Russia�s Largest Wartime Prisoner Exchange, Impact and Implications
00:10In a significant development amid Moscow�s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Russia and the
00:15West have conducted the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
00:19This elaborate swap, which took place on Thursday at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, holds
00:26considerable significance for both sides but is seen as having limited impact on Kiev,
00:31according to analysts.
00:33The exchange involved a total of 24 prisoners, marking a notable event in the context of
00:39wartime diplomacy.
00:41Russian President Vladimir Putin personally greeted eight Russian nationals upon their
00:45arrival at Moscow�s Vinokovo Airport.
00:49These individuals had been held in various locations across Europe and the United States,
00:54facing charges ranging from cyberfraud to espionage and murder.
00:58�I want to congratulate everyone on their return to their homeland,� Putin announced.
01:03�I want to thank you for your loyalty to the oath, your duty and your homeland, which
01:08has never forgotten you for a minute.�
01:11Among the Russian returnees were several high-profile figures, including spies Anna and Artem Dultsev,
01:18a couple who had posed as Argentinian arts dealers and were arrested in Slovenia.
01:23They returned to Russia with their two children.
01:26Additionally, cybercrime kingpin Roman Selesnaya and businessman Vladislav Klyushin, convicted
01:32of insider trading in the United States, were also part of the exchange.
01:37However, the most significant figure in this swap was Vadim Krazikov, who had assassinated
01:43Chechen rebel leader Zelimkhan Kangoshvili in Berlin in 2019.
01:49Krazikov, a veteran of the elite security forces, had previously been wanted by Russian
01:55authorities for multiple contract killings but was never prosecuted.
01:59In return, Russia released 16 inmates from its prisons, including notable figures such
02:05as Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who had recently been sentenced
02:10to 16 years for spying.
02:13Artist Sasha Skochelenko, who had received a seven-year sentence for replacing supermarket
02:18price tags with anti-war messages, and former US Marine Paul Whelan, held on espionage charges,
02:25were also released.
02:27Another prominent figure was Ilya Yashin, sentenced to eight and a half years in December
02:322022 for spreading fake news regarding massacres in Ukraine allegedly committed by Russian
02:38troops.
02:39Among the most high-profile prisoners released by Russia was Vladimir Karamurza, a Russian-British
02:44opposition figure sentenced to 25 years for treason following a speech he gave in the
02:49United States.
02:51Karamurza, whose Tatar origin surname means �Dark Lord� or �Black Prince�, had
02:56survived two alleged poisoning attempts that left him with a rare nerve condition, which
03:01significantly deteriorated during his imprisonment.
03:05The latest prisoner swap between Russia, the United States, and other Western countries
03:10is monumental for both Russia and the West, Kimberly St. Julian Varnin, an American historian
03:16specializing in Russia and the USSR, told Reporter.
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