Several Russians convicted of crimes in the United States have disappeared from the US prison database, which happened against the backdrop of the disappearance of several political prisoners from Russian colonies - investigative journalists drew attention to this, UNN reports with reference to Radio Liberty.
Details
According to the Russian service of Radio Liberty, Vladislav Klyushin, a contractor for the Russian security ministries convicted of insider trading in stocks, Alexander Vinnik, convicted of laundering four billion dollars through crypto exchanges, Maxim Marchenko, convicted of circumventing US sanctions against Russia, Roman Seleznev, convicted of cyber fraud, the son of Russian State Duma deputy Valery Seleznev, and several others have disappeared from the US database.
Klyushin was previously mentioned as a potential participant in a prisoner exchange that could be arranged between Russia and the United States. Leading American media reported on the negotiations regarding a possible exchange, but this information was not officially confirmed.
The disappearance of the Russians from the US base came amid the transfer of several imprisoned Kremlin critics in Russia from colonies to an unknown destination. Among them are oppositionist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who, in addition to Russian citizenship, has British citizenship and a permanent residence permit in the United States, former co-chairman of Memorial Oleg Orlov, Ilya Yashin, Sasha Skochilenko, Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, and Maria Ponomarenko.
The Russian media outlet Agence draws attention to the fact that eight planes of the presidential flight detachment 'Russia' have recently taken off from the regions where they were imprisoned. The publication also links this to a possible mass exchange. In Russia, no one has confirmed the possible exchange of prisoners.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his potential readiness for an exchange. He made it clear that he was ready to exchange alleged FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life in Germany, for Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was accused of espionage in Russia.
Last September, the Wall Street Journal wrote that Putin had instructed then-Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to seek Krasikov's release. On July 19, Gershkovich was sentenced by a court in Yekaterinburg to 16 years in prison on espionage charges. It took the court one day to examine witnesses and study the evidence, which is an unusually fast turnaround time for the Russian judicial system.