Russian-American Relations: A Historic Prisoner Exchange

A Pivotal Moment in Russian-American Relations

After spending five arduous months in a Russian prison, esteemed human rights advocate Oleg Orlov found himself contemplating a future filled with uncertainty. He pondered the possibility of one day walking free, potentially as part of a diplomatic prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. However, he acknowledged that the likelihood of such an event materializing under the current strained relations seemed as distant as a “star twinkling far, far, far away on the horizon,” as he expressed this week.

The dismal state of affairs between Moscow and Western nations, characterized by their diverging interests, made intricate negotiations for a complex deal appear implausible. Yet, in a surprising turn of events last week, the landscape shifted dramatically. In a significant and unprecedented prisoner swap not seen since the Cold War, President Vladimir V. Putin and his ally Belarus orchestrated the release of Mr. Orlov along with 15 others—comprising Russians, Germans, and Americans—in exchange for a convicted assassin and seven additional Russians released by Western authorities.

This exchange offered Mr. Orlov a fresh perspective on the profound influence of Mr. Putin’s history with the K.G.B., the Soviet Union’s notorious intelligence agency, on his identity and the kind of nation he aspires to mold Russia into. In a phone interview conducted four days after two private jets landed in Cologne, Germany, carrying him and other freed prisoners, Mr. Orlov expressed, “The swap happened because Putin is a K.G.B. man, an F.S.B. man.”

Having dedicated decades to investigating the transgressions committed by the Soviet secret police as a co-founder of the Memorial human rights group, which was honored with the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Orlov is well-versed in the realm of espionage.

The Russian president’s past as a K.G.B. agent in Dresden, East Germany, during the 1980s, and later as the head of the F.S.B., its domestic successor agency in the 1990s, casts a long shadow over his leadership style. For Mr. Putin, safeguarding the interests of the F.S.B. and other intelligence agencies by securing the release of their operatives outweighed the political repercussions of liberating opposition figures whom the Kremlin has labeled as traitors.