Washington — Three Americans Freed by Russia as part of a complex prisoner swap involving 24 people held in six countries, arrived on U.S. soil late Thursday night. President Biden and Vice President Harris were there to welcome them back.
A plane carrying a Wall Street Journal reporter Evan GershkovichNavy Veteran Paul Whelan and Russian-American radio journalist Alsou Kurmasheva landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after being released in an exchange that also involved Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
Vladimir Kara-MurzaA U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic was also released but chose to travel to Germany, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Under the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while Western countries freed eight Russians. The prisoners were exchanged on the tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, earlier Thursday.
Along with family members of the detained Americans, about a dozen Wall Street Journal employees gathered on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews to greet their colleague.
In White House remarks Earlier in the day, Mr Biden hailed the “feat of diplomacy”, saying that US relationships with its allies were “vital” to securing the prisoners’ release after months of difficult negotiations.
“Now their brutal ordeal is over and they are free,” he said, standing alongside their families.
Harris, who was in Houston earlier Thursday, praised Americans and their families for their “incredible courage in the face of horrific and devastating circumstances.”
Whelan and Gershkovich were imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges that their families and the United States have categorically rejected. The United States believes both were wrongly detained.
Kurmasheva was arrested in June 2023 on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military.
Whelan was not included in the two previous prisoner exchanges involving Americans Trevor Reed and Brittney Grinerboth arrested after his arrest in 2018. The United States said it pushed for him to be included in both exchanges, but Russia refused. That led Whelan to lobby for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to ensure he was not forgotten.
Whelan and his family feared that Gershkovich’s arrest in March 2023 would complicate his release and that he would be abandoned a third time.
In mid-July, hesitant to reveal details about the status of negotiations with Russia, Roger Carstens, the top U.S. diplomat handling the hostages, said the United States intended to repatriate Gershkovich and Whelan.
“I know Evan and Paul will come back to the United States and set foot on American soil. I just don’t know when,” he said in an interview at the Aspen Security Forum on July 17.
Two weeks later, a U.S. government plane carrying the two men and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland.
