Russian and US special forces continue to communicate back and forth about prisoner exchange

On September 22, speaking to reporters, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the intelligence agencies of Russia and the United States continue to maintain contact on the prisoner exchange. This statement was made after Mr. Antonov visited Russian citizens at a federal administrative detention facility in Brooklyn, the United States.

The ambassador said that Russian and US intelligence agencies had established a communication line in 2021 to discuss a prisoner exchange, which helped facilitate the return of Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko to Russia.

"I have not heard that it has stopped working yet. Let our special services work together to ensure that as many Russians as possible return home," Antonov said.

“I do not believe and refuse to confirm the information that there is some game going on there,” the Russian ambassador said when asked about allegations that US citizens were being deliberately detained in Russia to be used in prisoner exchanges. “No one is going after US citizens,” he said.

However, Mr Anatov said there was an ongoing “hunt” for Russian citizens in many countries, which continued even when there were no “real charges” against them.