新闻链接：https://us.cnn.com/2024/08/01/politics/russia-us-prisoner-swap/
以下为原文节选：
The United States and Russia carried out a historic prisoner exchange Thursday when two dozen detainees, including former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, were released as part of a sweeping deal that involved at least seven countries.
Thursday’s massive swap was the result of years of complicated behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the US, Russia, Belarus and Germany, ultimately leading Berlin to agree to Moscow’s key demand – releasing convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov.
A total of eight people, including Krasikov, were swapped back to Russia in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including four Americans.
In addition to Whelan and Gershkovich, prominent Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a US permanent resident, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were also freed.
“Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close US partners and allies working together,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday.
By midday, Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were on their way back to the US, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Sullivan described the negotiations as “painstaking,” and made all the more complicated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and “the overall degradation of our relations with Russia.” The negotiations, which initially focused on securing the release of Whelan, were made even more difficult when the Russians detained Gershkovich and Kurmasheva.
“It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals without an exchange that included Vadim Krasikov, a Russian criminal who was in German custody, not someone we could offer ourselves,” Sullivan said. “That required extensive diplomatic engagement with our German counterparts starting at the top with the President himself, who worked this issue directly with Chancellor Scholz.”
Krasikov was convicted of the murder in 2019 of the former Chechen fighter Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in Berlin. The German court that convicted him in 2021 said he acted on behalf of the Russian state, shooting his victim “execution style” in broad daylight.
Khangoshvili fought against Russian forces during the Chechen wars and later relocated to Georgia, where he survived several assassination attempts. Wanted in Russia on terror charges, he was a particular thorn in the side of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and close ally of Putin.
Putin hinted at his interest in bringing Krasikov back, telling the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in February that “an agreement can be reached” to release a man whom he said “eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals” motivated by “patriotic reasons.” Germany did not comment at the time.
The number of people Germany is getting in exchange for Krasikov – five German nationals and seven Russian opposition figures – is indicative of the severity of his crime and his high profile.
8.1，美俄进行了涉及24人的囚犯交换，俄方释放了16名政治犯以交换8名在各国关押的俄国囚犯，被释放者包含前美国海军陆战队队员Paul Whelan，华尔街日报记者Evan Gershkovich，俄异见记者Alsu Kurmasheva，前俄罗斯自民党反对派Vladimir Kara-Murza 以及克拉斯诺谢尔斯基前议长、反对派政客Ilya Yashin。
作为交换条件之一，普京则要求德国释放了此前暗杀车臣反对派的Vadim Krasikov，普京在2月接受福克斯前主持人卡尔森采访时曾提出交换这名爱国刺客的提议，即纳瓦尔尼狱中离奇身亡前夕。
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