The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that the U.S. would release a Russian national in exchange for the release of school teacher Marc Fogel, who was returned to the States late Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov said the Russian national’s identity would not be released after he returns home. According to The New York Times, he is expected to be released back to his home country sometime within the coming days.
However, U.S. officials identified the Russian national as Alexander Vinnik, who was imprisoned in the U.S. after pleading guilty to money laundering charges in 2024, the BBC reported.
This release comes in exchange for Fogel after he spent almost four years in a Russian jail for what the Russian government claimed was “large-scale drug smuggling,” per the NYT.
Fogel’s family said the school teacher was in possession of just 17 grams of marijuana meant to help ease back pain, though he was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Russian government in 2022, as reported by CBS News.
The White House posted a photo of Fogel arriving at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday night with the caption, “PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT!!!”
Fogel made a brief statement on Tuesday night at the White House, saying that he was in “awe” of those who facilitated the release and credited President Donald Trump.
“I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all,” he said, per NBC News.
“And President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes.”
Trump explained that the release of Fogel and the Russian national was a “show of good faith” between the two countries and could become an “important part” of the U.S. facilitating an end to the war in Ukraine.
“We were treated very nicely by Russia,” said the President, per BBC News. “Actually, I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war and millions of people can stop being killed.”
Peskov punished back on these comments and said that building trust between the two countries is important but that this prisoner swap is not likely to be a “turning point” for the relationship, per BBC News.