Evan Gershkovich, who is expected to be among those in the prisoner swap, was the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested while reporting for the Wall Street Journal during a trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023, and later accused of spying for the CIA. Russian authorities have never offered any public evidence to support their claims.
Within two weeks of his arrest, the US State Department designated him as wrongfully detained and called for his immediate release.
Following his arrest, Gershkovich was held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison, spending almost every hour of the day in a small cell, before being transferred to the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals more than 1,100 miles east of the capital.
He passed the time by writing letters to his friends and family and was allowed just one hour of walking per day, his parents said in an interview with the WSJ.
Gershkovich was found guilty of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court on July 19, in a case that the US government, the WSJ and his supporters denounced as a sham.
Gershkovich, the US government, and the WSJ vehemently denied the charges against him.
CNN’s Sophie Tanno, Anna Chernova and Moscow staff contributed reporting to this post.
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