Russia and the US did a major prisoner swap, the largest in post-Soviet history, on the basis of a multinational deal on August 1, 2024. Senior officials of Turkey (where the exchange took place) confirmed that Moscow released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan among others, while the West freed a number of Russian nationals, including Vadim Nikolaevich Krasikov, a Russian security service hitman who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for the killing of former platoon commander for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Zelimkhan Sultanovich Khangoshvili in Berlin on August 23, 2019.

Soon after the completion of the prisoner exchange procedure, US President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for playing a pivotal role in this significant swap of prisoners. The German officials, too, admitted that the deal was a complex and politically sensitive one as the exchange involved release of Krasikov. According to them, the intricate diplomacy and tough decisions made by Germany and its allies made it possible!

Sources close to Berlin claimed that Germany released Krasikov only to ensure the freedom of 15 people, including US journalist Evan Gershkovich and several high-profile Russian opposition figures, who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia. To do this, the Scholz Administration had to play a balancing act between justice and diplomacy. The German Chancellor stressed that his government decided to release Krasikov mainly to bolster ties with the US. He assured President Biden that Germany would remain committed to support the US in any complex situation. Scholz defended the decision to release the Russian hitman, stating: “Nobody took this decision to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years… lightly.” Earlier, President Biden had directly raised the issue of prisoner swap with Chancellor Scholz.

It may be noted that the deal has triggered a controversy in Germany, as some in the judiciary believe that it was an inappropriate political meddling. Amnesty International (AI), too, has condemned the deal, saying that it created an equivalence between “a murderer… convicted in a fair trial” and “people who have just exercised their Right to Free Speech“. Christian Mihr, the Deputy Secretary-General of Amnesty’s German branch, mentioned in a statement: “The prisoner swap is also a step toward expanding impunity.” A section of senior German officials has opined that the deal would encourage Russia to take more German citizens hostage in the future. However, they have admitted that Germany really worked hard to ensure the release of Rico Krieger, a German national sentenced to death in Belarus on terrorism charges, and Kevin Lick, a 19-year-old dual Russian-German citizen convicted of treason in Russia!

Meanwhile, former US diplomat Jeffrey Rathke considers the swap as a testament to the trust and cooperation between Berlin and Washington DC. He said that the exchange took place “because the US and Germany had a level of confidence, trust and mutual interest“. According to Rathke, the deal would certainly boost the Democrats ahead of the 2024 US Presidential Election.

On the day of prisoner exchange, the Kremlin expressed hope that the enemies who had left Russia would stay away. Later, former President Dmitry Medvedev told the press: “Let the traitors now feverishly pick up new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programmes.”

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das