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US prisoners released from Russia

Published on 29 Comments on US prisoners released from Russia

It turns out all the rumors were true:

The United States, Russia, Germany and four other countries swapped at least two dozen people Thursday in the largest prisoner exchange since the height of the Cold War. Those released included American journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, Russian dissidents and others from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus.

It's funny. I went looking for news about this last night and there was nothing. I don't know if that's because no one had dug up anything new at the time or if the government had asked news organizations to keep quiet while they were working out final details.

29 thoughts on “US prisoners released from Russia”

  1. shapeofsociety

    They probably wanted it kept quiet until everybody was on their plane home, lest anything in news reports introduce last-minute complications.

  2. Five Parrots in a Shoe

    It sucks. We arrest Russian war criminals, gangsters, cyberterrorists, sex traffickers, and other awful people. Russia arrests our journalists, athletes, and random tourists. And then we have to pretend the two groups are equivalent in order to arrange a swap.

    But in a world that has Vladimir Putin in it, what else can you do?

      1. aldoushickman

        Slim they may be, but the odds of him getting elected in 2024 are probably higher than they were for him getting elected in 2016. Let's hope we aren't similarly unlucky this time around . . .

        1. jte21

          I expect Russian bots and other infererence campaigns will be working overtime targeting swing state voters with all kinds of racist filth about Harris. Musk won't do a damn thing about it, either. In fact, he may tweak the algorithm to boost it. I suspect this time around, however, the FBI and Cybercommand are much better prepared to counter it than they were in 2016.

          1. HokieAnnie

            Not passively do nothing - Musk the other day retweeted a faked footage of VP Harris that was meant to deceive.

    3. lawnorder

      Don't you think a trade in which we send Russia "war criminals, gangsters, cyberterrorists, sex traffickers, and other awful people" and in exchange they send us "journalists, athletes, and random tourists" is an advantageous trade for us?

      1. Five Parrots in a Shoe

        We now know that one of the Russians we exchanged was an assassin. Putin personally greeted him on the tarmac when he landed in Russia. The world will suffer from this.

        I still think we should have done it - we can't just let our people rot - but this is costly.

    1. LactatingAlgore

      a bit like how trump stewed over obama's jokes at the may 2011 white house correspondents dinner while obama's natsec team was putting final touches on abbottabad raid.

  4. KJK

    When asked at the press conference today, that Orange Jesus claims he could have gotten them released without any concessions, Biden quickly responded; "Why didn't he do it when he was President"

    Way too old to be President for the next 4 years, but clearly not senile yet.

    While it is certainly is appalling to trade real criminals for political pawns, it is unfortunate that these potential targets become easily available to Putin when they voluntarily step out of from their flights at the airport in Moscow.

    1. iamr4man

      Here’s the word from Orange Jesus disciple JD Vance:
      “But we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home?” added Vance while cynically pivoting to partisan politics. “And I think it’s because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump’s about to be back in office, so they’re cleaning house. That’s a good thing. And I think it’s a testament to Donald Trump’s strength.”

      3. jte21

        I threw up in my mouth a little just reading that. Putin released them because of Trump's "strength?" When did Trump ever meet Putin (or any other dictator/autocrat for that matter) wearing anything other than heavy-duty kneepads?

      4. LactatingAlgore

        for james donald bowman, politics doesn't stop at the water's edge.

        i guess he should have listened to more seven mary three as a lad.

      6. cld

        More likely they realized Princess Tiny Paws isn't going to return and they'd rather let Biden take the applause for this while he only has a few months left.

  5. jte21

    Hmmm. Seems like Putin is trying to generate a little goodwill in the West all of a sudden. I wonder if he suddenly realizes Trump's chances aren't looking so good anymore and he'll need to find an out in Ukraine sooner rather than later.

      2. mudwall jackson

        of course if the impaler would attend such a summit, he'd likely be arrested. the icc has charged him with war crimes.

  7. D_Ohrk_E1

    This totally undercuts and moots Trump's promises while putting the finishing touches on Biden's legacy. Great work by this administration.

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