US and Russia carrying out prisoner swap that is expected to include Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan

(CNN) — A large-scale prisoner swap between the US and Russia is under way, according to a source familiar, and it is expected to include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a number of Americans.

The parties have agreed to a prisoner transfer and the prisoners are expected to be in the care of US officials, according to a senior administration official.

The deal would end a nightmare that lasted more than five years for Whelan and more than a year for Gershkovich. Both men were designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

Thursday’s swap comes after months of quiet and complicated negotiations between Moscow and Washington, which included US diplomats scouring the globe for offers to entice Russia to release the Americans.

Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg. He was found guilty of espionage by a Russian court on July 19 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in a trial that the US government, his newspaper and supporters have denounced as a sham.

Whelan – who is a US, Irish, Briti...