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☆ Germany Grapples With ‘Difficult Decision’ in Prisoner Swap
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | Christopher F. Schuetze | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The convicted Russian killer bounded off a plane in Moscow on Thursday, hours after Germany freed him in a wide-ranging prison exchange with Russia. Zurab Khangoshvili, the brother of the Chechen exile shot by the assassin, repeatedly scrolled through the video of the scene, watching from his home in Germany with profound sadness, he said. “That man killed someone here, and then he went back to Russia to a welcoming ceremony with this huge red carpet. It was unfair.”Germany played a critical role in the complicated trade that on Thursday secured the release of 16 prisoners to the West in exchange for eight prisoners to Russia. No part of that deal was more fraught than agreeing to release Vadim Krasikov, sentenced to life in prison in 2021 for killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen separatist commander who had sought asylum in Germany.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Zurab Khangoshvili, ”, Vadim Krasikov, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili Locations: Moscow, Russia, Germany, ” Germany, Chechen

☆ How the Russian prisoner swap that freed Evan Gershkovich unfolded over two years
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carol-Lee-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Carol E. Lee | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The effort took on extra urgency in March 2023, when the Russians arrested Gershkovich, a senior administration official said. Days later, NBC News reported that a deal that could have sprung Navalny, Gershkovich and Whelan had been in the works. After Biden and Scholz met on Feb. 9, Scholz told Biden he was on board. Vice President Kamala Harris also discussed the prisoner swap with Scholz, telling him that Krasikov was a critical component of getting a prisoner swap with Russia, a White House official said. That was when he called the Slovenian prime minister to make sure his country was ready to release the Russian in their custody.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Brittney Griner, Biden, Viktor Bout, Paul Whelan ’, Whelan, Paul Whelan, Antony Blinken, “, ” Blinken, Sergei Lavrov, Gershkovich, Blinken, Lavrov, ” Lavrov, ”, ” Gershkovich, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Vadim Krasikov, Zelimkhan, Olaf Scholz, Krasikov, Griner, Whalen, Joe Biden, Scholz, Kamala Harris, Jake Sullivan, Elizabeth Whelan, Sullivan, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Kurmasheva, ” Biden Organizations: Wall Street, Marine, AP, NBC News, Berlin, White, Biden Locations: Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Berlin, Moscow, Germany, Chechen, Russian, U.S, Nevada, Slovenian

☆ Putin hints at swapping detained Wall Street Journal reporter for Russian prisoner
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said "an agreement can be reached" over the release of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, signaling he is open to an exchange for a Russian prisoner serving time in Germany. "At the end of the day, it does not make any sense to keep [Gershkovich] in prison in Russia. We want the U.S. Special Services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing. We are ready to talk," Putin said, repeatedly indicating that negotiations over the journalist's future were underway. The Wall Street Journal strongly denies the charges of espionage levied against Gershkovich, a Russia correspondent at the paper, and says he was in Yekaterinburg on a legitimate reporting trip before he was imprisoned in March 2023.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Putin, Putin's, Tucker Carlson, Putin, Vadim Krasikov, Zelimkhan Organizations: Street, Fox News, Kremlin, Russian Federation, U.S . Special Services, Gershkovich Locations: Russia, Lefortovsky, Moscow, Germany, Ukraine, U.S, Russian, Chechen, Berlin, Yekaterinburg

CNN —Russian dissident journalist Elena Kostyuchenko has revealed how she was traveling to Berlin by train last autumn when she was abruptly taken ill, in a case that has led German authorities to investigate a suspected poisoning attempt. Kostyuchenko was living in exile at the time in the German capital after being warned of Russian plans to assassinate her. In March 2022, she said she was tipped off by a source in Ukrainian military reconnaissance about Russian plans to assassinate her. Kostyuchenko eventually fled to Germany, where she rented an apartment in Berlin and began working for Meduza on September 29. Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also fell ill on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow in 2020.

Persons: Elena Kostyuchenko, Kostyuchenko, Sebastian Büchner, ” Kostyuchenko, “, ”, Zelimkhan, Sergei Skripal, Yulia, Theresa May, Alexei Navalny Organizations: CNN, Russian, Novaya Gazeta, Meduza, UK Locations: Russian, Berlin, Munich, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Iran, Meduza, Ukrainian, Chechen, English, Salisbury, Siberian, Tomsk, Moscow

On energy, the ministry has “completely overhauled the previous government’s Russia-friendly policy” to reduce Germany’s dependence on Russian natural gas, it said. “That tells you something.”Germany consistently underestimated the Russian threat and gave counterintelligence work a low priority, but that is changing now in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, experts and Western officials said. Last April, Berlin expelled 40 Russian Embassy employees for allegedly working for Russian intelligence services. Germany’s intelligence services failed to anticipate that Russia would invade Ukraine, a failure that has yet to be the subject of any publicly released “lessons learned” review. Such a review would show Germany is serious about altering its approach, the Western official said.

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