Behind the scenes of the prisoner swap to free WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich from Russian prison

After 16 months in a Russian prison, Evan Gershkovich was released Thursday in the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, orchestrated by the Biden administration.

Almost two weeks ago, Biden announced to the world he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. But just before he made that decision, the president made a call to his Slovenian counterpart urging them to make final arrangements to get the historic prisoner exchange over the line.

That swap included Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, along with legal permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza. In exchange, Vladamir Putin insisted his hit man Vadim Krasikov, be released back to Russia.

Krasikov used the cover name Vadim Sokolov and was convicted by a German court for the 2019 assassination of a former Chechen commander near Berlin’s parliamentary building. He was in German custody.

PUTIN HIT MAN SEEN AS RUSSIA'S BIG PRIZE IN PRISON SWAP: 'HIGH-VALUE ASSET'

President Biden had to convince German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to ultimately agree to Krasikov’s release. The government of Turkey facilitated the transfer of the prisoners.

"I don't think anybody here on the US side has a full, complete, contextual picture of why Krasikov was treated with the priority that he was by the Russian side," a senior administration official told Fox News.

"I mean look, FSB [Federal Security Service] connection, paid assassin, ordered by the Russian Government to conduct the assassinations that he did… this is a bad dude, and a member of the Russian intelligence services. They obviously considered him an asset and wanted him back, and it was no small thing for the German government to let