Over the years, US-Russian prisoner exchanges have been a topic of interest. Here is a list of notable cases.

On Thursday, as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange between the US and Russia, four individuals - three American citizens and one American green-card holder - were freed from Russian detention.

Since the Cold War, the largest U.S.-Russia prisoner swap has been carried out, with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, fellow American Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza among those released.

The prisoner swap deal with Russia was hailed as a "diplomatic triumph" by President Joe Biden.

Over the years, there have been several U.S.-Russia prisoner swaps. Here's a review of seven significant exchanges and the relevant information.

December 2022

The last major prisoner exchange before Aug. 1, 2024, occurred on Dec. 8, 2022, when WNBA star Brittney Griner was exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," as reported by Planet Chronicle Digital.

In February 2022, Griner, who had been playing basketball in Russia during the off-season, was arrested by Russian authorities after less than a gram of hash oil was discovered in her luggage. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

In 2008, Bout was arrested in Thailand and later extradited to the U.S., where he was convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012.

The exchange occurred at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as reported by Reuters and other sources.

April 2022

On April 27, 2022, Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine veteran, was freed from Russian captivity in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko.

In 2019, Reed was arrested in Russia and charged with attacking a police officer. He was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison, as reported by Planet Chronicle Digital.

Reed's family defended his innocence, while the U.S. government characterized him as wrongfully imprisoned.

As part of a one-for-one prisoner exchange, his release was negotiated in exchange for the release of Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison for smuggling cocaine into the country, according to Reuters.

July 2010

Four Russian prisoners were exchanged for ten U.S. sleeper agents detained under the "Illegals Program."

Reuters reported that one of the freed Russian prisoners was Sergei Skripal, who was convicted of high treason for working as a double agent for the United Kingdom.

On July 9, 2010, a swap occurred on the tarmac at Vienna International Airport in Austria.

September 1986

In 1986, the second prisoner exchange occurred after the arrest of U.S. News & World Report correspondent Nicholas Daniloff on Sept. 2 and his subsequent accusation of espionage by the KGB.

Daniloff, who asserted he was falsely accused, was detained for approximately a month before being released from the Soviet Union on September 23 without any formal charges.

The US believed Daniloff's arrest was a response to the recent capture of Gennadi Zakharov, a Soviet citizen working at the UN in New York.

Zakharov pleaded no contest and was allowed to leave the U.S.

According to Reuters, Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov, the chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, was also released after spending nine years in prison and internal exile for documenting his country's human rights violations.

February 1986

Mikhail Gorbachev released Natan Sharansky as the first political prisoner on Feb. 11, 1986.

Nine years in prison was the sentence for Sharansky, who was accused of being a U.S. spy.

Reuters reported that he and three Western spies were exchanged for Czech spies Karl and Hana Koecher, who had been imprisoned in New York City for two years, along with Soviet bloc spies Yevgeni Zemlyakov, Marian Zacharski, and Detlef Scharfenorth, who were being held in West Germany.

June 1985

On June 12, 1985, Marian Zacharski, a former intelligence officer, was exchanged for three other Soviet agents in a deal that released 23 Americans held for espionage in Eastern Europe.

Zacharaski was arrested in 1981 and convicted of espionage.

The swap took place after three years of negotiations, Reuters noted.

February 1962

The "Bridge of Spies" exchange was the first significant prisoner swap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

On February 10, 1962, American pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on the Glienicke Bridge.

The bridge formed the border between West Berlin and East Germany.

Reuters contributed reporting to this article.