Outlook Web Desk
As many as 24 prisoners were freed as part of one of the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Basically, a deal is struck between two opposing sides in a conflict to exchange prisoners caught in war, hostage situations, etc.
A convicted Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, was swapped for an American pilot, Francis Gary Powers on the Glienicke Bridge aka 'Bridge of Spies'.
A Polish former intelligence officer, Marian Zacharski, was swapped along with three other Eastern Bloc agents for 23 Westerners jailed for espionage.
Soviet Jewish rebel Natan Sharansky, jailed for spying for the US, was swapped alongside three other Western spies for the Koechers (infiltrated CIA) and Soviet bloc spies.
A correspondent for a US media outlet, Nicholas Daniloff, was swapped in September for Gennadi Zakharov, an employee of the Soviet mission to the UN.
In one of the mass prisoner swaps, ten Russian sleeper agents were exchanged for four prisoners held in Russia. A colonel of Russia's Military Intelligence Service, Sergei Skripal, was among the swapped.
A US Marine veteran, Trevor Reed, was released in April for a Russian pilot and aviation transport expert, Konstantin Yaroshenko who was in jail for smuggling drugs.
In a high-stakes swap in December, US basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Reuters reported.
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were among the 24 prisoners freed in the biggest swap between Russia and the US.