Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, released from prison in the United States as part of an exchange with Russia, arrived in Turkey on February 13, from where he went to Moscow. This was reported to the agency “Interfax” by Vinnik’s Lawyer Bukh Arkady Bukh.
“We have received updated information on the whereabouts and status of our client, Mr. Vinnik. We have been informed that our client arrived by airplane in Turkey, from where he was sent by another flight to Russia. His arrival at the Moscow airport is expected in the next few hours,” said Arkady Bukh.
Earlier on February 13, the lawyer admitted that Vinnik would arrive in Moscow “in the next few hours, maybe days.”
Alexander Vinnik was released from prison in the United States in exchange for former American embassy employee in Moscow Mark Vogel, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said on February 12. Fogel, who was serving a 14-year sentence in Russia in a drug smuggling case, has already returned to the United States
Vinnik was detained in Greece in July 2017 at the request of the US. U.S. authorities accused him of laundering between four and nine billion dollars through the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e (no longer operating). Vinnik was extradited to the United States in August 2022.
February 12, the Belarusian authorities released three prisoners, Belarusians Andrei Kuznechik and Elena Movshuk, as well as a U.S. citizen, whose name was not disclosed. The released people were taken to Lithuania.
Source: https://meduza.io/news/2025/02/13/rossiyanin-aleksandr-vinnik-pribyl-v-turtsiyu-posle-osvobozhdeniya-iz-tyurmy-v-ssha-skoro-on-budet-v-moskve