American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and two other Americans, alongside 13 other individuals from various European countries, have been released from Russian prisons in the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War.

The 32-year-old was held in Russia for more than a year before he was eventually sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for espionage in a hasty trial last month. The United States had immediately declared Mr Gershkovich wrongfully imprisoned abroad following his arrest.

Meanwhile, he was released on Thursday alongside Alsu Kurmasheva, Russian-American editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who was detained last year and Paul Whelan, 54, a former U.S. Marine arrested in 2018 in a prison swap which saw the West release eight Russian prisoners being held.

The significant deal was reached between the West and Russia following months of complex negotiations between both parties, who have been at the bitter end of one another over the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, the New York Times reported.

Citing a Russian intelligence official, the Times reported that the prisoner exchange took place at the international airport in Ankara, Turkey’s capital involving seven different planes ferrying 24 prisoners from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Russia.

As part of the exchange, Germany released Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted for the murder of a Chechen former separatist fighter in Berlin in 2019 on behalf of Moscow, while the United States released a convicted hacker, Vladislav Klyushin, and two others.

Meanwhile, Slovenia, Norway and Poland released four accused Russian spies.