IRISH CITIZEN PAUL Whelan has been released from jail in Russia as part of a prisoner exchange today between the Kremlin and Western countries that was facilitated by Turkey.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has welcomed Whelan’s release, saying he has received confirmation from the US government that Whelan’s release was part of the prisoner swap that had been negotiated over many months.

“I have spoken to the US Ambassador in Ireland who confirmed the news,” Harris said in a statement.

“I know this will be an enormous relief to his family who have campaigned for many years for his release.

“I would also like to thank Ireland’s diplomatic team in Russia and our consular team in Dublin for their years of tireless work on this case.”

A former US marine with Irish citizenship, Whelan was convicted of espionage in a Russian court in 2020, having been arrested a year earlier. He was found guilty of spying on behalf of the United States. 

Whelan also holds US, British, and Canadian citizenship. He had been serving a sixteen-year sentence.

The freed prisoners were brought to the Turkish capital Ankara under the deal that Turkey said its MIT intelligence service had spent weeks putting together.

US President Joe Biden hailed the prisoner swap that also saw the return of US journalist Evan Gershkovich as a “feat of diplomacy” that has ended their “agony.”

“The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy,” Biden said, confirming that three US citizens and one permanent resident were among the 16 people freed by Russia, also including five Germans and seven Russians.

“Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,” he said in a statement.

With reporting from AFP