Who are the Americans still being held in Russian prisons?

Following the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, several Americans remain behind bars in Russia.

Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were released from Russian custody on Wednesday in a historic prisoner swap, but several American citizens remain there.

Here are the major known American prisoners in Russian custody:

Marc Fogel

Fogel, an American teacher from Butler County, Pennsylvania, was arrested in Russia in August 2021 after trying to enter the country with a small amount of medical marijuana. Although a grassroots movement has attempted to have the United States declare him “unjustly detained,” that request has not been granted.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have repeatedly pushed for his case. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), and Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) signed a joint letter calling for Fogel to be included in Wednesday’s prisoner exchange.

“As reports of a possible prisoner exchange are coming, we urge that any exchange include Marc Fogel of Pennsylvania, along with Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich,” They said: “Marc is a Pennsylvania teacher with serious health issues who has been unjustly incarcerated in a Russian prison for three years, and as members of Congress representing Marc and his family, we have been pushing for Marc to return home as soon as possible. As negotiations are ongoing with the Russian Federation, we respectfully request that any potential prisoner exchange include Marc Fogel.”

Fogel’s mother was supposed to join former President Donald Trump on stage during his rally in Butler on July 13, but was prevented from doing so because of the attempted assassination on Trump’s life.

Gordon Black

Black, a 34-year-old U.S. Army sergeant stationed in South Korea, went AWOL in June and flew to Vladivostok to see his Russian girlfriend. Russian media reported that he then got into a physical fight with his girlfriend and stole the equivalent of about $115. He was arrested and sentenced to nearly four years in prison.

The military later confirmed that it had cut Black’s pay after his arrest.

Roberto Woodland

Woodland, a Russian-born dual citizen of Russia and the United States, was arrested in January for allegedly trafficking a large quantity of illegal drugs into the country. In July he was sentenced to 12 and a half years in a maximum-security penal colony.

Woodland said he first visited Russia to find his mother, but then decided to move there.

Ksenia Khavana

Khavana, 33, a Russian-born dual Russian-American citizen, was detained during a visit to Russia in January on treason charges. She was accused of “proactively” raising funds that “were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicines, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Khavana denied the allegations and said he only donated funds to humanitarian groups. On one occasion, he donated $51.80 to the New York-based nonprofit Razom. It is not known whether the allegations stem from this donation.

The Los Angeles resident was visiting her family in Russia as she did at least once a year, this time for a two-week trip to spend time with her 90-year-old grandmother, her parents and her younger sister.

David Barnes

Barnes, 66, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in January 2022. He was visiting his children in Russia, where his ex-wife had taken them. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison on allegations that he sexually abused his two children in Houston between 2014 and 2018.

“The American’s wife said that he repeatedly raped their children born in 2010 and 2014. He committed crimes in the United States in the cities of Houston and Woodlands from 2014 to 2018, when the children visited him,” the pro-Kremlin spokesman said. Pravda reported.

Texas investigators had previously dismissed the sexual assault allegations, prompting his supporters to criticize the conviction. His lawyer, Gleb Glinka, said he was “shocked” by the verdict.

“We thought there were many doubts about what had happened and both the verdict itself and the prison sentence were totally unexpected,” he said.

Roberto Gilman

Gilman, a former Marine, was arrested in 2022 for allegedly assaulting a police officer while drunk in the city of Voronezh. He was originally sentenced to four and a half years in prison, but the sentence was reduced to three and a half years on appeal.

Gilman faces additional charges of disrupting the work of a correctional facility and assaulting an investigator after allegedly punching three different prison staff members and attacking a criminal investigator, the prosecutor said. Moscow weather reported.

Gilman claims he was being poisoned with “radioactive material” and feared for his life.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Eugene Spector

Spector, a Russian-born U.S. citizen and medical company executive, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his alleged role in bribing former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich in September 2022. The following year, he was indicted on new espionage charges, which carry a significantly longer sentence.

Details of the new spying allegations have not been made public.