A Story of Spying

While Russia has arrested and charged with spying Paul Whelan A citizen of American and British citizenship has been asked whether this is a real case of spying or just another gesture in the Cold War game.

Whelan, a former U.S. Navy member whose family says he was in Moscow to attend a friend's wedding, has been arrested on December 28th while being indicted for spying on January 3rd.

But is he guilty of anything but being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Some feel that way.

Whelan's lawyer, Vladimir Zhebenkov, said his client may only be a chess stone in Moscow's plans to force a classic exchange of spies, given that his arrest was made weeks after Russian Maria Busina pleaded guilty in the United States to act as a Kremlin agent.

The Kremlin has denied that Busina is a Russian agent and has organised a campaign on social media to ensure her release.

In the past, Russia has arrested foreigners for the purpose of trading prisoners to other countries.

“in this category of cases, exchanges often occur”, Zqebenkov told ABC News after being asked about the upcoming phases of the case.

For the exchange to occur, there must be trial. The court should consider the case, prove its guilt. Punishment must enter legal force. After that, the president can forgive and trade with Russian citizens in custody in America”, Zhebenkov said, adding that Whelan aims to fight the charges and not accept guilt.

In any case, the case calls to mind images of Russia and the West by sending delegations to the notorious Berlin Bridge Glienicke -- often called “The Spy Bridge” -- to exchange people.

February 10, 1962

One of the first major exchanges was made between Francis Gary Powers and Rudolph Abel. They have been exchanged in secret on the Gliencke Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam, after both have been convicted of spying and released from prison.

October 11, 1963

The 24-year-old American Student, Marvin William McKinen, who was arrested in Kiev during a trip in 1961, and Reverend Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit missionary arrested in the Soviet Union in 1941, have been exchanged for Ivan Egorov, a former United Nations employee, and his wife, Alexandra, who have been captured in the United States and charged with spying.

April 22, 1964

British businessman Greville Wynne, imprisoned in 1963 on charges of spying for the United States and Britain, has been exchanged for Soviet intelligence officer Conon Molody, who was imprisoned by the British in 1961 for leading a spy ring in Portland. Molody was known in the West as Gordon Arnold Lonsdale.

April 27, 1979

The Soviets released five dissidents including Alexandr Ginsburg and sent them to New York in exchange for the Russians: Valdick Enger and Rudolf Chernyayev. The last two were held in the United States for spying.

June 11, 1985

The Glienecke Bridge has become a center again, as the agreement involving 29 people has been reached, among them 23 Westerners and the famous Polish spy Marian Zacharski.

Zacharski has been serving a life sentence in the United States after being found guilty of passing some secret plans on aircraft technology, which he has secured by cheating an engineer at Hughes Airraft Company.

February 11, 1986

The latest act in “The Spy Bridge” included the Jewish Soviet dissident Anatoly Shkaransky (most known as Nathan Sharansky), who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union for spying on the United States, even though the charges were said to have been false and that his real crime has been criticism of the communist regime.

A meeting between the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and Soviet leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1985, has led to agreements on Sharansky's exchange with Karel Koecher and his wife, Hannah .

Koecher was convicted in 1984 of spying on the Soviet Union, and his wife was held witness to this case.

September, 1986

American journalist Nicholas Daniloff, who reported on the Soviet Union, and Gennadiya Zakharov, a United Nations employee accused of spying on the Soviets, were released after three weeks of intensive negotiations.

The Soviet dissident, Yuri Orlov, has also been released to the West as part of the deal.

July 9, 2010

The last major exchange known to include 10 Russians released from the United States and four people released from Moscow. The exchange was made at Vienna International Airport.

The case has included Russian nuclear scientist Igor Sutyagin, who is allowed to emigrate to the West.

The exchange in Vienna included Anna Chapman, who has been present in policymaking circles in Menheta, but has returned to Russia.

Sergei Scripal was also part of the exchange. The Kremlin has released Scripal, a Russian military intelligence officer who was sentenced in 2006 for spying on Britain. Scripal now lives in England. Last year, it was poisoned by two suspected Russians in the town of Sallsbury. / REL/