American journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine Paul Whelan are being released from Russian prison, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. 

The latest confirmation comes just hours after Russian media reported the potential of an ‘imminent’ deal to release between 20 and 30 Russian prisoners. 

The prisoner swap, Russian media reported on Wednesday, includes America and Germany, and, if completed, would be the largest of its kind since the end of the Cold War. 

So far, there is no mention of which prisoners the Western countries might be trading. However, the suspicious emancipation of a Russian couple sentenced to 19 months in a Slovenian prison for spying on Wednesday has raised some eyebrows. The pair were released for time served and told to leave the country immediately.

The news follows previous reports that several Russian political prisoners were transferred out of their cells to unknown locations, a move which often precipitates a prisoner exchange deal. 

Several Russian dissidents were among those reportedly moved from their cells, including Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeyeva, Oleg Orlov, and Ilya Yashin. Mr. Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2018, has also been reported missing from his cell. 

According to the sources, the prisoners being tee’d up for release include political figures connected to Alexei Navalny, Russian citizens who criticized the war in Ukraine, as well as American citizens. 

The White House has not yet confirmed the reports. “We do not negotiate in public. We cannot negotiate in public because we want to make sure we can get this job done,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday.

The sudden transfer comes a few weeks after the Wall Street Journal reporter, Mr. Gershkovich, was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony on spying charges after a “sham” trial.  

The 32-year-old American journalist has been detained in Russia since his arrest in March 2023 while on a reporting assignment in Yekaterinburg. 

When asked last week about the possibility of a prisoner exchange, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded “I’m leaving that question without an answer.” Russian state media reported. “There is a charge of espionage, so this is a very, very sensitive area.”