West and Russia conduct largest prisoner swap since Cold War | 1 Aug 2024 | Russia agreed to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan as part of a landmark prisoner exchange deal with the West that took place on Thursday. The prisoner swap took place in multiple countries and is being regarded as one of the largest such exchanges since the end of the Cold War. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees to pardon the convicted Russian and foreign citizens who were exchanged in a prisoner swap with the West in Ankara on Thursday. The list of those pardoned includes Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, opposition figures Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, and others, according to the Kremlin's official website. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has confirmed that eight Russian citizens have been returned home following a mass prisoner exchange between Moscow and the West in Ankara on Thursday. The agency noted that the Russian nationals were exchanged for a group of individuals who "acted in the interests of foreign states to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation."