A prisoner swap on Thursday among seven countries freed the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans held in Russia. The trade freed 15 people imprisoned by Russia and one by its ally Belarus, in return for eight held in Western countries, including a convicted assassin and several held as Russian spies. The deal delivered a diplomatic victory for President Biden, who has long pledged to bring home imprisoned Americans and to support Russia’s ruthlessly repressed democracy advocates, journalists and war critics.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/01/world/europe/russia-gershkovich-prisoner-swap.html