RIPRIP,
The deal, which is being carried out in Türkiye, involves 24 adults and two children, according to security sources.
A large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States and its Western allies is believed to be underway in Turkey's capital Ankara, security sources say.
The deal involves seven different countries and includes 24 adults and two children, sources told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported that American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan are part of the deal, which is one of the largest prisoner swaps between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
“TO [prisoner] “The exchange operation will be carried out today under the coordination of our organization,” the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said in a statement.
“Our organization has assumed an important mediation role in this exchange operation, which is the most comprehensive in recent times.”
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist, was arrested in 2023 and charged with espionage. Whelan was arrested in 2022 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges as well. The United States has deemed both prisoners “unjustly detained.”
The Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that a Russian military plane, allegedly linked to the prisoner swap, had landed in Ankara.
More to come…
