As rumors continue to circulate about a potential international prisoner exchange, it now appears that the names of several Russians serving prison sentences in the United States have disappeared from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons database.
Lawyer Igor Slabykh, who writes about American legal news, noticed that the names of Alexander Vinnik, Maxim Marchenko, Vadim Konoshchenok, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznyov, all serving sentences in American prisons, no longer appeared in the Bureau of Prisons’ online database since Wednesday.
Vinnik and Marchenko both pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2024, while Konoshchenok was convicted of supplying U.S. dual-use technology and munitions to the Russian military. Klyushin was convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud in February 2023, and Seleznyov was convicted of cybercrimes and fraud.
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti wrote that other Russians serving sentences in US prisons nevertheless appeared in the database, such as hacker Vladimir Dunayev.
Over the past 72 hours, at least ten political prisoners held in Russian prisons have reportedly been transferred without warning to an unknown destination. The list includes high-ranking Russian prisoners, including at least one with dual citizenship, a U.S. citizen, and a foreign-born Russian citizen.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko also pardoned on Tuesday a German prisoner, Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death in the country in late June.
