Among those released Thursday as part of the largest East-West civilian prisoner swap since the Cold War was Alexandra "Sasha" Skochilenko, a musician and 2017 graduate of Bard College in upstate New York and Smolny College in Russia, where she was imprisoned since 2022 for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war slogans in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the college.

Skochilenko, 33, graduated in sociology and anthropology from Smolny College in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as part of a long-running dual-degree program between Bard College and Saint Petersburg State University, according to Bard. The joint program ended in 2021 when Russia banned Bard, naming it an "undesirable" organization.

Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in a Russian penal colony for "knowingly spreading false information about the Russian Army," according to Bard. 

Her release was part of a prisoner swap between Russia, the United States and several European countries. Also freed in the swap Thursday were Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

“Sasha has demonstrated both the creativity and determination that we hope to see in our graduates. We are profoundly thankful that she is now out of prison, and only hope that others currently incarcerated in Russia for their courageous stand against the ongoing war are also released,” said Jonathan Becker, Bard College’s executive vice president and former dean for Smolny College. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report