As a historic prisoner exchange unfolds, a look back at other famous East-West swaps

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Washington and Moscow exchange prisoners, it usually comes after months of secret, back-channel negotiations. Swaps these days often take place on an airport tarmac. During the Cold War, the exchange sometimes came on a famous bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam. Sometimes those being released can see others involved in the swap as they pass to freedom. In decades of sporadic U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges, those released included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete. Thursday’s historic exchange was an especially complex affair involving months of talks among several countries before the planes carried the prisoners to freedom.