Russian cybercriminals returned in high-stakes US prisoner swap

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The United States and Russia have conducted the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, with a number of high-profile cybercrime actors involved in the swap.

Most notable amongst those released by the US is Roman Seleznev, known in the cyber world as Track2, who was responsible for stealing credit card details from point-of-sale systems and selling them on, a crime for which he was sentenced to 27 years in a US prison.

Seleznev was also sentenced to 14 years for his involvement in an identity theft and bank-fraud racket.

Cyber criminal prisoner exchange

A second notorious Russian cyber criminal, Vladislav Klyushin, has also been exchanged as part of the swap. Klyushin owned the penetration testing firm M13, and after being arrested in Switzerland, he was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, gaininging unauthorized access to computers, and conspiracy after using stolen corporate information to rack up $93 million in insider trading. Klyushin was handed nine years in jail in September 2023.

The third confirmed exchanged prisoner was Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov, who murdered a Chechen militant in the heart of Berlin in 2019. Among those exchanged in return were Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, Radio Free Europe reporter Alsu Kurmasheva, and Russian-British green-card holder and Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Across America, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkeys negotiation efforts, a total of 19 prisoners were freed from Russia. In return, America and its allies released 8 prisoners

A statement from President Biden said, “I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome— including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.”

More from TechRadar Pro

These are the best password managers around today
Fraud ring steals credit card info with fake online shops advertised on Facebook
Take a look at some of the best firewalls on offer

Benedict has been writing about security issues for over 7 years, first focusing on geopolitics and international relations while at the University of Buckingham. During this time he studied BA Politics with Journalism, for which he received a second-class honours (upper division), then continuing his studies at a postgraduate level, achieving a distinction in MA Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy. Upon joining TechRadar Pro as a Staff Writer, Benedict transitioned his focus towards cybersecurity, exploring state-sponsored threat actors, malware, social engineering, and national security. Benedict is also an expert on B2B security products, including firewalls, antivirus, endpoint security, and password management.