You can learn a lot about a country through prisoner exchanges. It’s here that the stark contrast between freedom and tyranny is most clearly revealed.

Last week, Russia released 16 prisoners, in exchange for eight from the West. Just going by the numbers, you’d think we made out like bandits. Looking at the deal tells a more complicated story.

According to the New York Times and other public sources, of Russia’s released prisoners, three were U.S. citizens, all civilians. The most famous, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, was framed on espionage charges so ridiculous Russian prosecutors wouldn’t even show the evidence against him.

The other two, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, were at most guilty of naivete: Whelan for accepting a flash drive from a supposed friend, Kurmasheva for failing to declare her American citizenship. All three were native or fluent Russian speakers.

Another five were German. Of those, two appear to have bona fide connections with anti-Russian intelligence services. The other three associated with a “suspicious” journalist, had a pack of cannabis-laced gummy bears in their luggage, and had a reputation as a pro-cycling activist. Horrors.

All of the remaining eight were Russian political activists, guilty only of criticizing Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine. One wrote Pulitzer prize-winning columns for the Washington Post from his prison cell. One young woman was sentenced to seven years for replacing price labels in supermarkets with antiwar stickers. For all Putin’s strongman imaging, it is dissents he is truly afraid of.

Who did Russia get in exchange? Two were sleeper agents, a married couple that could have been role models for “The Americans”. They lived an ordinary life in Slovenia, posing as Argentinian emigres along with their two children. They were arrested two years ago and confessed to being Russian spies. Their children had no idea.

Others were individuals convicted of hiding their Russian citizenship and spying, Russian hackers convicted in a multi-million dollar cyber extortion scheme, and a member of a Russian group dedicated to acquiring American high tech for the war in Ukraine.

I’ve saved the best for last. The big fish Putin wanted the most was the delightful Vadim Krasikov, an FSB thug and longtime Putin pal. Krasikov shot a Chechen opposition figure in the back in a Berlin park. He was swiftly caught and jailed.

Anybody see the difference between who goes to prison in the West, and who goes to prison in Russia? Criminals and spies on one side, human rights activists on the other.

During the Cold War, spies were swapped for spies. Now authoritarian regimes like those of Putin and Iran’s Ali Khamenei grab hostages, wrap them up in show trials, and use them as bargaining chips to recover their spies and criminals.

I’ve been to Russia twice as a Fulbright Scholar, the last time in 2009. What a difference 15 years make. As much as I love the country and its people, I can never return, at least while Putin is in power.

Indeed, all Americans traveling abroad to authoritarian countries should think twice, even (perhaps especially) if you have dual citizenship or speak the language. You might find yourself a pawn in a much bigger game.

By trading political activists for criminals, does this make us chumps? No. It means America and the West are freedom-loving democracies.

Regrettably, tyrants can do things we cannot. But we must be true to our core values. Ultimately, we know living under liberty and the rule of law is a better way to live. Even when it looks like the bad guys are winning.

Barry Fagin is the author of “The Radical Center,” senior fellow at the Independence Institute in Denver, a two-time Fulbright Scholar to the Russian Federatio, and a fluent Russian speaker. His views are his alone. Readers can contact Fagin at barry@faginfamily.net.