Source work and prep result in fast reports on the massive prisoner swap with Russia

By Eric Tucker, Dasha Litvinova, Zeke Miller, Brian Friedman and Matthew Lee

When the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the West in modern history took place, AP teams in Washington and Europe were ready after months of source work and preparation across continents.

Since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russian authorities in 2023, AP reporters in Washington and Europe had been checking with sources constantly for any developments that could result in the release of him and other Americans.

For months, the answer was the same: nothing new, but several weeks ago, national security reporter Eric Tucker began hearing from sources that negotiations were bearing fruit. That meshed with what correspondent Dasha Litvinova was seeing in Russia. She astutely noticed a series of political prisoners had abruptly disappeared from prison, a sign of their potential involvement in a prisoner swap. She also broke news of a secret trial and conviction for Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was also included in the deal.

Tucker and State Department correspondent Matt Lee spent days talking with sources to learn the full contours of the deal, the time and location it was expected to happen and all of the participants. With those in hand, Litvinova prepared a biographical study of each of the 24 people included in the deal, Tucker filmed video debriefs that were filed as soon as the deal took place, and video and photo teams were prepared and ready at Joint Base Andrews when the prisoners arrived. Tucker and TSH editor, Brian Friedman, a Russia expert attached to the team in Tallinn, prepared a nuanced story that placed the swap in the right historical context.

It was a highly sensitive story, and AP took care to ensure its coverage would not put lives at risk or jeopardize the deal’s completion. Aided by the staff’s significant experience in high-profile prisoner swaps, the circle of reporters and editors who knew about the deal remained small. They held private meetings to discuss coverage in the days leading up to it and worked to ensure the news did not spread or leak out inadvertently.

As soon as reporters confirmed the detainees were in the air and safe, the detailed story hit the wire immediately. The main story was just one of roughly a dozen stories AP journalists would publish over the following four days, including a widely used one by Tucker, Lee and White House reporter Zeke Miller that reconstructed how the blockbuster deal came about.

For expert and sensitive handling of news of the massive deal that released journalists and dissidents held unjustly in Russian prisons, in exchange for returning a Russian assassin and others to Moscow, the AP team of Tucker, Litvinova, Lee, Miller and Friedman earn this week’s Best of the AP — First Winner.

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