Historic Prisoner Swaps: East-West Exchanges That Changed the Course of History

An extensive east-west prisoner swap involving 26 individuals took place in Ankara. This article revisits prominent prisoner exchanges between Russia (USSR) and the U.S., including the 1962 'Bridge of Spies' swap, the 1985 agent exchange, the 1986 Sharansky swap, and the recent 2022-2023 swaps involving Trevor Reed, Brittney Griner, and others.

An extensive east-west prisoner swap involving 26 individuals took place in Ankara on Thursday, the Turkish presidency announced. This significant event recalls several high-profile prisoner exchanges between Russia (USSR) and the U.S. over the decades.

In February 1962, the 'Bridge of Spies' saw the first major exchange involving convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel and American pilot Francis Gary Powers. Abel served four years of a 30-year sentence before his swap, while Powers was captured after his U-2 spy plane was downed over Russia.

June 1985 witnessed the biggest agent swap in history, with Polish spy Marian Zacharski and three other Eastern Bloc agents exchanged for 23 Westerners. The Glienicke Bridge facilitated this exchange, as well as the February 1986 swap involving Soviet dissident Anatoly Sharansky.

In September 1986, journalist Nicholas Daniloff was swapped for Soviet employee Gennadi Zakharov following a contentious espionage accusation. More recently, July 2010 saw ten Russian sleeper agents traded for four prisoners at Vienna International Airport.

In April 2022, U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed was released for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, while December 2022 saw U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout amid deteriorating U.S.-Russia relations. Throughout these exchanges, notable Americans like Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel remain imprisoned in Russia.

(With inputs from agencies.)