A tense exchange: Russia and the West swap political prisoners

Dmitry Medvedev commented on the prisoner exchange between Western countries and Russia. "I would like, of course, for the traitors to Russia to rot in a dungeon or die in prison, as often happened," he wrote.

On Thursday, the world watched with bated breath, as reported by the media, the largest political prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War. It included 24 people aged 19 to 71. Among them were experienced activists, journalists, and others who opposed Russian aggression in Ukraine, noted the Associated Press. There were also murderers, criminals, and persecutors, whom the Russian side received and greeted with flowers at the airport.

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, commented on the exchange. "I would like, of course, for the traitors to Russia to rot in a dungeon or die in prison, as often happened," he began his shocking post.

It was in a penal colony that Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny died, whom the Putin regime tortured to death. The opposition received another clear signal that anyone who opposes Putin must expect persecution and even death, commented Dr. Adam Eberhardt, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute Foundation at that time.

Medvedev added: "It’s more useful to bring out our own people who worked for the country, for the Fatherland, for all of us. And let the traitors now feverishly select new names and actively disguise themselves under a witness protection program," read on Telegram.

So who did Medvedev name as "working for Russia"? Eight people were released from Western prisons:

Mikhail Mikushin was detained in Norway, where he entered, claiming to be a Brazilian citizen. Under the name Jose Assis Giammaria, he worked at one of the universities. He was detained in 2021, identified as Mikhail Mikushin, and accused of espionage.

Artem Dulcev and Anna Dulcev convicted in Slovenia for espionage. They used the names Ludwig Gisch and Maria Rosa Mayer Munos. They were said to work for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

Vadim Konoschenko, expelled to the US from Estonia. He was accused of smuggling ammunition and industrial espionage.

Vladislav Klyushin, a businessman connected to the Kremlin, sentenced to 9 years in 2023 for fraud, including telecommunications and securities fraud. He was said to have earned at least CAD 45 million on them. He was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to the US in 2021.

Roman Seleznev, a Russian hacker sentenced to 27 years in prison for hacking into computer networks and stealing credit card data, which he then sold over the Internet.

Pavel Rubtsov, whom Polish authorities agreed to include in the exchange, as the spokesperson for the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services Jacek Dobrzyński reported, describing Rubtsov as a GRU military intelligence officer "carrying out intelligence tasks in Europe and awaiting a criminal trial." As reported by the independent Russian portal Insider, Rubtsov was arrested by Poland at the Polish-Ukrainian border on February 27, 2022. He claimed to be a Spanish journalist and used the name Pablo Gonzalez. He was said to use his journalist status to collect information in Ukraine for Russian special services, and his goal was also to gain the trust of Russian oppositionists.

Vadim Krasikov, 58 years old, an FSB agent. In 2021 he was sentenced in Germany to life imprisonment for murdering the Chechen-Georgian dissident Zelimkhan Khangooshvili in Berlin on the orders of Russian authorities.

According to Medvedev, the supposed traitors, journalists, politicians, and oppositionists who should "rot in a dungeon or die in prison" are:

Evan Gershkovich, 32, a correspondent for the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal".

Paul Whelan, a former soldier, 54, also sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia for espionage in 2020.

Alsu Kurmaszewa, 47, a journalist for Radio Free Europe (RFE), was detained in 2023 in Kazan, where she was visiting her mother, and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, an anti-Kremlin opposition activist holding both Russian citizenship and a British passport, and a U.S. green card. Arrested in 2022 for criticizing the war. Sentenced the following year for treason to 25 years in prison.

Ilja Yashin, a critic of the Russian government, serving an 8.5-year sentence in a penal colony for criticizing the war.

Andrey Pivovarov, 42, an independent journalist, sentenced to 4 years for working for an "undesirable" organization (Open Russia).

Oleg Orlov, a human rights defender, 71 years old, sentenced for protesting "discrediting the army" and against the war to 2.5 years in prison.

Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, sentenced to 7 years in prison for placing information about the shelling of civilians in Mariupol on supermarket labels.

Three activists who previously headed Alexei Navalny's offices in the regions of Russia: Lilia Chanysheva (42 years), Vadim Ostanin (47 years), and Ksenia Fadeeva (32 years). Arrested in 2021, sentenced for extremism to terms of 9 to 9.5 years in prison.

Kevin Lik, 19. Holds Russian and German citizenship. The youngest Russian political prisoner sentenced for alleged treason.

Rico Krieger, 29-year-old German citizen, medical worker. Sentenced in Belarus to death for terrorism and espionage in June this year, then pardoned by Alexander Lukashenko.

Demuri Voronin, a political scientist, sentenced to 13 years in the famous criminal case against Ivan Safronov, a former journalist for the newspaper "Kommersant."

Patrick Schoebel, a German citizen, arrested in February this year at the airport, where customs found marijuana gummies in his luggage. He was accused of drug smuggling.

German Moses, a citizen of Russia and Germany, a lawyer specializing in migration issues. He helped Russians with residence law issues in the European Union. Arrested in the spring, accused of treason.