There are no Russian citizens currently detained in the United States on espionage charges, but several other prisoners could hypothetically be exchanged for WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia. This is stated in the material of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“These Russians were convicted of cybercrime. Their possible tradeoffs largely depend on how effectively its advocates can convey this idea to American and Russian audiences, ”says the author of the article.
The article also states that the WSJ editorial board dismissed the suspicions against Gershkovich. “Now the fate of Mr. Gershkovich, the accused Russian citizens or other prisoners may be determined in the cold commercial universe of the recently revived interstate prisoner exchange. The main question is how difficult it will be to agree on such an agreement, ”says the author of the material notes.
“This week, a senior White House official stated that the United States is open to creative solutions for both Whelan and Hershkovich to reach a deal.”
According to the official quoted by the author of the article, US authorities are seeking legal ways to negotiate this issue.
Meanwhile, the WSJ writes that, given the close attention shown to Gershkovich’s arrest, “there is no indication that it will be easy to make this deal” involving two or three countries.
The WSJ names Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin and Alexander Vinnik as potential candidates for the Gershkovich trade.
Seleznev is the son of the Liberal Democratic Party Valery Seleznev, deputy of the State Duma of the V, VI, VII and VIII convocations. In 2016, a court in Seattle, Washington found Roman Seleznev guilty of breaking into hundreds of companies and selling stolen data. His losses from fraud exceeded $169 million. He is due to be released in 2036.
“At the moment, as far as I know, he is the only Russian they want to take back,” said Seleznev’s lawyer, Igor Litvak.
Vladislav Klyushin was extradited from Switzerland in 2021. A court in Boston, Massachusetts found him guilty of buying $90 million in securities transactions based on information stolen from closed computer networks in the United States. Klyushin will be sentenced in May.
Alexander Vinnik has been accused of illegally operating a cryptocurrency exchange. He was detained in Greece in 2017. After that, he was extradited to France and from there to the United States. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
On March 30, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, the FSB reported.
“The illegal activities of Gershkovich Evan, a 1991-born US citizen accredited in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suspected of spying for the interests of the US government, were suppressed,” the department’s statement reads.
The FSB said that the journalist collected information “on the activities of one of the enterprises in the Russian military-industrial complex”, on instruction from the United States. Emphasizing that Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information, the secret service added that the FSB investigation agency opened a criminal case against him under an article about espionage.