JUST IN: US Planning Prisoner Swap With Russia — Here Are the 8 Americans Who Could Come Home

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Russia and the United States are reportedly quietly circling the possibility of another prisoner exchange in an effort that could determine the fate of at least eight Americans still held in Russian prisons.

Moscow’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Axios on Tuesday that discussions with U.S. officials had taken place during his late-October visit to Washington, calling the talks “humanitarian in nature, such as possible exchanges of prisoners that the U.S. side has been working on.”

A senior U.S. official confirmed the outreach and described the atmosphere as constructive, though any outcome remains distant.

“The U.S. will welcome the release of any detained American,” the official said, stressing that no agreement has been reached.

Dmitriev met President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff during his Washington trip. A source familiar with the conversations told Axios that Russia hopes a swap would help “create more trust between the countries.”

While several prisoners were released earlier this year, eight others remain behind bars, several of them swept up in cases the U.S. describes as politically tinged or marred by contested evidence.

The names of interest were outlined by Axios as having been sent to Russia earlier this year by the U.S. They include:

Stephen James Hubbard, 73, accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine
David Barnes, serving 21 years after a conviction stemming from a cross-border custody dispute
Robert Gilman, a former Marine convicted of assaulting a police officer
Eugene Spector, sentenced on bribery and espionage charges
Michael Travis Leake and Robert Romanov Woodland, both jailed on drug offenses
Daniel Joseph Schneider, convicted of abducting his son
Gordon Black, a U.S. soldier imprisoned for theft and alleged threats.

U.S. officials have not disclosed whether these individuals are part of the current discussions. But with Moscow signaling interest and Washington eager to show progress on detainees the groundwork for another high-stakes swap appears to be in motion.