Russia exchanges spies for political prisoners According to data available to The Insider, the released political prisoners include Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Paul Whelan, Ilya Yashin, Alsu Kurmasheva, Andrei Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, Alexandra Skochilenko, Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva, Rico Krieger, Kevin Lik, Demuri Voronin, Vadim Ostanin, Patrick Schobel, and Herman Moyzhes. In return, Russia has received FSB operative Vadim Krasikov, along with multiple spies and fraudsters.   HOW THE TALKS

Evan Gershkovich was detained in the spring of 2023 in Ekaterinburg. Russian authorities accused him of espionage. According to the investigators, the journalist was commissioned by the CIA to collect information about Uralvagonzavod, which manufactures and repairs military equipment. The investigation claims that this information constitutes a state secret. Courts regularly extend the journalist's stay in pre-trial detention. Gershkovich does not admit guilt, insisting that he was engaged in Russia

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article on "discrediting" the army against Eduard Charov, a Christian preacher from the Sverdlovsk Region.   On 27 June, the notification about the initiation of the case was published by the preacher's wife Inna Charova, attention to the publication was drawn by the publication "7×7. Horizontal Russia. The reason for the case was a repost of a picture about

Arseniy Turbin, a 15-year-old resident of the town of Livny, Orel region, was sent to an educational colony for five years, allegedly for his participation in the Legion "Freedom of Russia" organisation*. The schoolboy Arseniy Turbin was under house arrest from 5 September 2023 to 31 May 2024 with the right to attend the lyceum, then he was released on his own recognizance, but soon - on 20 June 2024