The Russian government has agreed to release Evan Gershkovich, the Jewish-American Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested and convicted on charges of spying as part of a prisoner swap with the US, Bloomberg reported.

Gershkovich will be returned to the US together with former US Marine Paul Whelan, another American citizen who was wrongfully imprisoned by Russia. It is not clear which prisoners the US agreed to free in exchange for Gershkovich and Whelan.

Gershkovich was arrested by Russian agents while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023.

Gershkovich, the United States government, and The Wall Street Journal all deny the allegations, for which the Russian government has not provided evidence. The US government considers him to be wrongfully held.

The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich was trying to collect secrets about Uralvagonzavod, a Russian defense enterprise that is one of the world's biggest battle tank producers, for the CIA.

He was found guilty on July 20. 2024 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The speed of the trial raised questions over whether the Kremlin is intending to use him as part of a prisoner swap deal with the United States, noted CNN, suggestions which spokesman Dmitry Peskov left without comment when asked about them on a Friday conference call ahead of the verdict announcement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in February that Gershkovich could be swapped for Vadim Krasikov, convicted of the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin, although he did not mention Krasikov by name.

Whelan was arrested on December 2018 while traveling in Russia on an American passport, also on charges of espionage.