Dan Mitchinson: Three freed Americans back on US soil after historic prisoner swap with Russia - Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva have landed in the United States, following the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. 

The returnees were greeted with tears and embraces by their joyous families at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also on the tarmac to welcome them after their plane touched down some 20 minutes before midnight on Thursday. 

Whelan, who was first to exit the plane, gave a salute before shaking hands with the US leaders, followed by Gershkovich, who embraced both Harris and Biden before hugging his ecstatic parents. Kurmasheva rushed into the arms of her husband and daughters after greeting Harris and Biden. 

Gershkovich went quickly to address media gathered at the tarmac, telling his Wall Street Journal colleagues the words they had been waiting more than a year to hear. “I’m home,” he said. 

Biden observed the emotional family reunions, then removed his pin and placed it on Whelan’s lapel as Harris looked on. 

“It feels wonderful. Long time in coming. I was absolutely convinced we could get it done. I meant it when I said – alliances make a difference. They stepped up and took a chance for us and it mattered a lot,” Biden told reporters, referring to the extensive diplomatic effort that resulted in the swap. 

The return marks the conclusion of what Biden called a “brutal ordeal” for the three Americans and their families following their detentions in Russia, where prisoners are often kept in harrowing conditions. 

Whelan, 54, had spent almost six years in Russian prisons after his arrest in Moscow in December 2018, while Gershkovich, 32, had been detained for more than a year. Both were sentenced on espionage charges and declared wrongfully detained by the US State Department. 

Kurmasheva, a 47-year-old journalist for the US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in October 2023 and found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian army – charges her family and employer deny. 

Their release – and that of Washington Post contributor and permanent US resident Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42 – was orchestrated as part of a complex prisoner swap between Russia, the US and other Western nations involving 24 detainees in total. 

Sixteen people were released from Russian custody on Thursday, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Moscow in return got former high-ranking FSB colonel Vadim Krasikov, as well as several individuals accused of spying or cybercrime. 

In a statement earlier Thursday, Biden hailed the agreement as a “feat of diplomacy,” in collaboration with US allies, including Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia. 

Read more