Why were Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and others being held prisoner in Russia?

Both were convicted of spying on charges the U.S. says were fabricated.

ByMeredith Deliso ABCNews logo
Friday, August 2, 2024
Who are Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan from the US-Russia prisoner swap?
Who are Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan from the US-Russia prisoner swap?Darla Miles has more on Gershkovich and Whelan after Russia agreed to free them in a major multi-country prisoner swap.

Here's a look at the Americans and permanent U.S. resident freed as part of the 24-prisoner exchange with Russia happening Thursday -- the largest of its kind since the Cold War -- as announced by President Joe Biden.

Evan Gershkovich

The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter was sentenced last month to 16 years in a Russian penal colony on charges of espionage after a guilty verdict was announced in his closed-door trial.

His newspaper and the U.S. had denounced the legal proceedings, which saw only two days of hearings, as a sham and have denied the allegations.

The American was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, with the U.S. classifying him as unjustly detained.

Evan Gershkovich (left) and Paul Whelan (right)
Evan Gershkovich (left) and Paul Whelan (right)
AP Photos

Paul Whelan

The 54-year-old former U.S. Marine was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison following a closed-door trial in June 2020.

He was convicted of spying charges, which he and the U.S. have claimed were fabricated in order to seize him as a political hostage.

The U.S. classified him as wrongfully detained following his arrest in 2018 while visiting Moscow for a friend's wedding.

In his first interview following his conviction, Whelan, who worked for the auto parts supplier BorgWarner at the time of his arrest, told ABC News he believed he was targeted partly due to sanctions retaliation.

Alsu Kurmasheva

Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service, attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia on Monday, April 1, 2024
Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service, attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia on Monday, April 1, 2024
AP Photo

After traveling to Russia for a family emergency, she was initially detained at an airport in June 2023 while returning home to Prague, her news outlet said.

The 47-year-old mother of two was initially fined for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities before being charged months later in what U.S. officials said appeared to be a case of Russia harassing U.S. citizens.

Vladimir Kara-Murza

FILE - Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza gestures standing in a glass cage in a courtroom during announcement of the verdict on appeal at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on July 31, 2023.
FILE - Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza in a courtroom during announcement of the verdict on appeal at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on July 31, 2023
AP Photo, File

Concerns about his health had been mounting after he was recently moved to a prison hospital and his lawyers said they were being denied access to him, as well as following the death of Russia's best-known opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in February.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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