Trading Freedom

Moral Dilemmas Triggered by the Largest Prisoner Swap Since the Cold War

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August 1, 2024; the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara. A total of 26 people from seven countries—Russia, Belarus, the United States, Germany, Slovenia, Norway, and Poland—landed at Esenboğa Airport. The exchange left a bittersweet aftertaste in Western countries, particularly in Germany, which handed over Putin’s desirable No.1: Vadim Krasikov. Krasikov had been sentenced to life in Germany for the 2019 assassination of a Georgian national of Chechen descent, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, during broad daylight in Berlin's Tiergarten Park.

Besides hitman Krasikov, Russia received 10 other individuals in the exchange, totaling 10 people. Among them were Anna and Artem Dulcev—Slovenian operatives convicted on espionage charges—along with their two children, who learned about their parents’ background only after boarding the plane to Vnukovo Airport and Mikhail Mikushin, accused of espionage by Norwegian authorities, who had posed as a Brazilian citizen under the name José Assis Giammaria. He came to Norway to study a program at UiT (the Arctic University of Norway). In 2022, he also participated in an EU-Hybnet training event in Vilnius to "better face hybrid threats,” as stated on the X page (formerly known as Twitter) of Mykolas Romeris University. One of the key topics was how to respond to sabotage attempts on the Nord Stream gas pipeline—a highly significant issue for the Kremlin. Other individuals included in the exchange were Pavel Rubtsov, an alleged GRU agent; Roman Seleznev, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison in the United States for credit card data theft and became one of the most notorious hackers in the criminal world; Vladislav Klyushin, convicted in the United States on charges of hacking computer networks; and Vadim Konoshchenok, an alleged FSB agent.

The White House published a statement from Joe Biden on August 1 regarding the release of American citizens detained in Russia, stating, "We’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country." Such an exchange may indeed help the Democrats resonate positively with voters and boost their chances of winning in November’s elections.

Evan Gershkovich is one of the most important figures released from Russian prisons. Gershkovich, who covered Russia as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was detained last year on spurious espionage charges and was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penitentiary in the Mordovia region on July 19, 2024. Others included were former Marine officer Paul Nicholas Whelan, detained in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in 2020, also on espionage charges; and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe journalist funded by the United States, who was convicted in Russia for failing to register as a foreign agent. Opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison on fabricated charges of spreading fake news about the Russian army, cooperating with undesirable Western organizations, and state treason. In reality, he was simply outspoken against the Russian war in Ukraine, election fraud, and human rights violations in Russia.

Other released prisoners included the former head of Alexei Navalny's headquarters in Ufa, Lilia Chanysheva, and politician Ilya Yashin. Yashin gave a 3-hour interview to a well-known Russian journalist (also labeled a foreign agent in Russia), Yury Dud', for his YouTube channel with 10 million subscribers, where he stated that the only Western motivation in this exchange was to save as many people as they could. This point is credible, as many of the detained people serving sentences in Russian prisons, including artist Sasha Skochilenko and Vladimir Kara-Murza, had severe health issues.

Those received by Russia—a killer, fraudsters, and spies—were personally welcomed by Vladimir Putin at Vnukovo Airport on August 1, alongside Andrey Belousov, the Minister of Defense, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB. The first to be greeted with a handshake and the words "Zdorovo!" meaning "welcome", was Krasikov himself. Putin and Krasikov have allegedly known each other since the 1990s, and Krasikov may have even served as his bodyguard. Putin welcomed the rest of the released individuals by calling them "real patriots" who would be presented with state awards for their loyalty to Russia and, of course, to Putin himself.

The exchange has provoked a moral dilemma for Western countries, especially Germany, where Krasikov was serving a life sentence. According to an opinion published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, there is little understanding within the German General Prosecutor's Office (Generalbundesanwaltschaft) of the decision to exchange Krasikov, with some viewing it as excessive compliance by the German government towards Vladimir Putin. The prisoner exchange dilemma centers on whether or not to release these criminals. On one hand, the West sought to secure freedom for unjustly held individuals, but on the other, it risked empowering authoritarian regimes or releasing dangerous people back into society. This raises the question of whether ethical standards should be compromised to protect a few lives, knowing it may strengthen those we condemn. The exchange also reflects the efforts of many Russians whose activism shows that morality is shaped not just by governments, but by collective compassion and solidarity. The release of Krasikov contradicts international law and may lead to new state-sponsored contract killings in Europe, funded by the Kremlin. Moreover, the exchange of political prisoners does not necessarily mean that the opposition poses a real threat to Putin: since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian society has become more consolidated around him, with dissent suppressed. As a result, the political activism of many is seen by some as a threat not to the regime but to the lives of these individuals.

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities enacted several new repressive laws, such as those criminalizing the discrediting of the Russian army or spreading so-called "fake news" about it. The number of arrests of individuals disagreeing with the Kremlin's official position has surged; however, this has led to new imprisonments rather than any meaningful changes. Notable opposition figures like Alexey Navalny have been sentenced to 19 years in prison, while Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released as part of this exchange, received a 25-year sentence—the harshest to date—on charges of treason.s

Der Spiegel argues that the trade violates the first rule of dealing with hostage-takers: never comply with their demands, as this only encourages future blackmail. However, there is an opposing view that negotiations should be pursued to save hostages before escalating conflicts. The difference with Putin is that he can now arrest any foreigner entering Russia and use them as leverage to blackmail the West for the release of another agent. The situation is like a pendulum, with innocent lives on one side and the consequences of such decisions on the other. German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann however argues for 'im Zweifel für die Freiheit', meaning that in cases of doubt, the default position is to protect freedom rather than impose constraints.

There are still 1,200 political prisoners in Russia, but those who were released represent a significant victory for democracy and freedom of speech, its basic principle. The act of negotiating with authoritarian states presents another moral dilemma, suggesting that the possibility of engaging in talks with Russia and Belarus still exists.

Text by an anonymous author