Trading Spies for Political Prisoners

In an unprecedented multilateral deal, sixteen Russian and foreign citizens kept in Russian prisons and recognized by the international community as political prisoners were exchanged for eight Russians, most of them undercover spies and agents, held in prisons in Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Poland, and the United States. 

Among those held in Russia were three American citizens: the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and the Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. They arrived in the United States to be greeted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and a long-time Putin opponent, was among the freed prisoners too. Kara-Murza was instrumental in the United States and other Western nations imposing sanctions on Russia in response for Moscow’s human rights violations. Others were major Russian opposition figures, including Ilya Yashin and Andrey Pivovarov.

Many more political prisoners remain in captivity. The Russian investigative media outlet Proekt recently conducted an analysis of politically motivated prosecutions under charges of “extremism,” “spreading false information,” and similar accusations. Their investigation revealed at least 4,667 such cases between 2018 and 2023, during Putin’s second presidential term, involving over 5,600 defendants

Lengthy Preparation to Reach a Deal

The deal was in preparation at least since March 2023, when the Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. According to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the United States was working on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny, but his death in February 2024 in a remote penal colony jeopardized the agreement. A key figure for the Russian side, Sullivan said, was Vadim Krasikov, a hitman and Federal Security Service (FSB) agent convicted of murder in Germany. Persuading Germany to release Krasikov, who had committed a murder in broad daylight in a public Berlin park, took a lot of diplomatic effort on the U.S. side. 

The Kremlin has insisted throughout that it was an equal exchange, in which one set of “foreign agents” was traded for another. Russia’s FSB said in a brief statement that “Russian citizens were exchanged for a group of persons acting in the interests of foreign States to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation.” 

However, those released from Russia included political activists and journalists who were openly exercising their constitutional rights. In contrast, the individuals released by the United States and European states were professional agents and one hitman working under false identities. Others were criminals, such as Roman Seleznev, a hacker convicted of stealing credit card data, and Vladislav Klyushin, convicted of participating in an insider trading scheme using data stolen from U.S. companies.

Russia’s Most Serious Crime

The Kremlin’s portrayal of the deal reinforces its narrative that any independent activity involving political opposition, protests against the war in Ukraine, or the publication of uncensored information is foreign-sponsored and aimed at undermining Russia’s security. By continuously creating repressive legislation and punishing free speech, the Russian state has made opposition to itself the most serious crime in the country.

Navalny and his colleagues have always made a point of using nonviolent, legal ways of protest. Yet groups like Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation have been labeled “extremist,” making any cooperation with them a criminal offense. Now, a small donation to an organization that has been designated as “extremist” or even the favorable mention of such an organization on social media is enough to bring charges of extremism. By branding political opposition and free speech extremist activities, the Russian state has criminalized legitimate civic engagement.

The current swap surpasses the previous mass exchange that took place in 2010. Back then the United States gave up ten Russian deep-cover agents, including Anna Chapman and Andrey Bezrukov. In its turn, Russia released the former double-agent Sergei Skripal, the scientist Igor Sutyagin, and two more people. All of those, with the possible exception of Sutiagin, were professional spies. Famously, Skripal later became the target of an assassination attempt that involved the use of a military-grade nerve agent.

The stark contrast between those exchanged in the current deal highlights a fundamental difference in the nature of their activities. Individuals targeted by Russia were arrested and tried because their activities, while being constitutional, posed a threat to the Kremlin’s narrative and authority. Those released by the U.S. and European states were largely undercover agents and criminals engaged in illegal activities.

Do Exchanges Empower Regimes?

Some critical voices called for being especially careful with deals like this. “I don't think that Putin is particularly fond of Krasikov, but Krasikov’s release will dramatically increase the number of volunteers ready to become the Kremlin’s assassins,” Ilya Novikov, a Russian lawyer now living in Ukraine, told Meduza. “Potential killers will realize that even if you kill, get caught, and are convicted for life, after a while the motherland will still bring you back. It turns out that there are no risks.” Therefore, amid the euphoria caused by the fact that people have finally been pulled out of Russia’s bloody clutches, we should not forget that someone will pay for it with his life.

This view should not preclude Western governments from seeking negotiations with Russia. While Russia continues to frame any form of political opposition or free speech as acts of foreign subversion, Western nations must navigate the delicate balance between securing the release of unjustly detained individuals and inadvertently empowering regimes that criminalize legitimate civic engagement. 

The contrasting nature of those exchanged—political prisoners exercising their constitutional rights versus undercover agents and criminals—highlights the challenges faced by democratic societies in addressing human rights abuses in foreign countries.

The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and do not reflect the views of the Kennan Institute