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Speculation about a potential major prisoner swap between the US and Russia bubbled up this week.
Russian prison officials told Reuters on Wednesday that Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian dissident and Putin rival who was imprisoned for criticizing the war in Ukraine, was moved from the penal colony in Siberia where he was being held.
He was among several prisoners who have recently been moved from Russian prisons, fueling the mounting speculation that a prisoner swap was coming.
Russian and US officials have not confirmed that a prisoner swap is happening.
When reached by Business Insider, the US State Department referred to comments made at its press briefing on Wednesday.
When asked about reports of political prisoners in Russia being moved around, Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson, said: “I don’t want to speculate on any reasoning. What I can say is that the United States continues to be focused on working around the clock to work to get our wrongfully detained American citizens home, and that continues to be the case, but have no updates beyond that.”
The Russian embassy in the US did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Paul Whelan, a former US marine accused of espionage, also disappeared from the Russian prison where he was being held, his lawyer said.
“There are rumors about a possible exchange,” Olga Karlova, Whelan’s lawyer, said to Interfax, a Russian news agency, The Washington Post reported. “I sent a request to the colony administration, but they are not responding.”
Senior Russian officials have said Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is among the prisoners that could be swapped in a potential exchange, The Post reported.
Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 and accused of espionage, a charge that he, the Journal, and US officials have denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this month.
