(NewsNation) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva are on their way home after the United States and Russia completed the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War but research suggests dozens of Americans are still being unjustly held captive abroad.
Based on a recent report from the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, there are at least 43 U.S. nationals currently being held hostage or wrongfully detained in 16 countries across the world. The average length of captivity across those cases is more than five years, with six cases enduring over 11 years, the report found.
Russia accounts for 25% of all Americans being wrongfully detained abroad, the Foley Foundation determined.
The latest prisoner swap is welcome news but also raises questions about how foreign adversaries could seek leverage over the U.S. by taking prisoners in the future.
“Russia’s use of humans as international bargaining chips — Americans as well as citizens from other countries — underscores its threat to international security and stability,” the foundation said in a statement Thursday.
Gerskovich and Whelan were being held in Russia on espionage charges, which the U.S. has vehemently denied. Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist, was convicted for spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer rejected.
The Foley Foundation said some Americans being held in Russia, like Andre Khachatoorian and Ksenia Karelina, still have not been officially designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.
Khachatoorian, a 38-year-old American citizen, has been held in Russia since Dec. 2021 after being arrested while waiting for a connecting flight at Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Ksenia Karelina, a Los Angeles-based Russian American aesthetician, is being held in Russia for treason after she allegedly donated money to Ukraine. The donation amounted to as little as $50 to a New York-based nonprofit, according to CBS News.
Here are some of the names of U.S. nationals who are being wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, according to the Foley Foundation:
- Alina Lopez
- Held in Cuba since 2017
- Aziza Al-Yousef
- Held in Saudi Arabia since 2019
- Dr. Walid Fitaihi
- Faces 28 years in prison in Saudi Arabia
- George Glezmann
- Held in Afghanistan since 2022
- Kai Li
- Held in China since 2016
- Mahmoud Habibi
- Held in Afghanistan since 2022
- Mark Swidan
- Held in China since 2012
- Paul Overby
- Last seen in Afghanistan in 2014
- Ryan Corbett
- Held in Afghanistan since 2022
- Shahab Dalili
- Held in Iran since 2016
- Theary Seng
- Held in Cambodia since 2022
- Zack Shahin
- Held in Dubai since 2008