On August 1, two high-profile American captives, journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, were among 24 individuals released as part of a complex political prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia.

This exchange, which involved countries like Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia, represents the largest international prisoner swap in years. Negotiations reportedly took a year, according to the White House.

In this deal, Russia released 16 prisoners, while Western nations returned eight prisoners, one of whom was a Russian convicted of killing a Chechen militant in 2019.

YSL News tracked the movements of those exchanged during this multinational deal. Here’s what we discovered.

Locations of the Held Prisoners

The exchange occurred in Ankara, Turkey, with Turkish intelligence providing logistical assistance.

From the 16 prisoners sent to the West, 15 were from Russia, while one was detained in Belarus.

Those transferred to the U.S. included:

• Evan Gershkovich, 32; American journalist for the Wall Street Journal accused of espionage in March 2023. He was sentenced to 16 years.
• Paul Whelan, 54; holding citizenship in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland; former U.S. Marine arrested in Moscow in December 2018 on spying charges. He also received a 16-year sentence.
• Alsu Kurmasheva, 47; a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia; editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty arrested in October 2023 for not registering as a foreign agent. She was sentenced to 6½ years.

Thirteen were forwarded to Germany:

• Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42; journalist with U.S. residency and dual citizenship in Russia and the U.K., sentenced to 25 years for criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
• Ksenia Fadeyeva, 32; Russian dissident involved with opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s foundation, jailed for organizing an extremist group.
• Oleg Orlov, 71; human rights advocate imprisoned for opposing the Russian government and its actions in Ukraine.
• Ilya Yashin, 41; an opposition activist convicted for spreading false information about the military.
• Kevin Lik, 19; holding dual citizenship in Russia and Germany, sentenced to treason in December 2023 for photographing military sites.
• Rico Krieger, 30; German national condemned to death in Belarus on terrorism charges.
• Dieter Voronin, 45; implicated in assisting a Roscosmos executive accused of treason.
• Patrick Schobel, 38; arrested for drug trafficking for possessing cannabis gummy bears.
• Herman Moyzhes, 39; German lawyer charged with treason for helping Russians secure residency permits in Europe.
• Vadim Ostanin, 46; sentenced to nine years for connections to an extremist group.
• Andrei Pivovarov, 42; leader of an opposition faction incarcerated for running an undesirable organization.
• Aleksandra Skochilenko, 33; sentenced to seven years for placing anti-war messages on grocery price tags.
• Liliya Chanysheva, 42; supporter of Navalny jailed on extremism charges.

Locations of the Prisoner Exchange

Eight prisoners held in the West were sent back to Russia. Three were held in the U.S.:

• Roman Seleznev, 40; sentenced to 27 years for credit card and identity theft.
• Vladislav Klyushin, 42; sentenced to nine years for stealing corporate intelligence.
• Vadim Konoshchenok, 48; suspected of being a Russian agent and facing charges in the U.S.

From Germany:

• Vadim Krasikov, 58; convicted of a Chechen rebel’s murder in Berlin.

From Slovenia:

• Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, a Russian couple in Slovenia who admitted to espionage.

From Norway:

• Mikhail Mikushin, accused of spying.

From Poland:

• Pavel Rubtsov, charged with espionage.