Historic Homecoming: Americans Journalists Released From Russia In Long-Awaited Prisoner Swap

U.S. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris early Friday greeted three Americans — RFERL journalists Alu Kurmsasheva, Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovch, and Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who were released by Russia hours earlier in a historic prisoner swap, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Their return is a part of a larger, multi-country exchange that is deemed to be one of the most complex prisoner swaps in U.S. history, involving 24 people being held in 6 countries as they arrived on U.S. soil.

The prisoners were traded on a tarmac in Ankara. Russia released 16 prisoners as part of the deal. Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder, was also freed, but opted to go to Germany, according to State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.

In return for the prisoners, the U.S., Germany, Norway, Poland and Slovenia released 8 Russians from custody, including hackers and spies tied to the Kremlin. The most notorious of the released Russians was Vadim Krasikov, a Russian hitman convicted in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen commander.

The first to emerge from the plane at Joint Base Andrews was Paul, followed by Evan and then Alsu. All three exchanged warm greetings with the president and vice president on the tarmac before being welcomed by their families and friends with hugs, tears and applause.

"The toughest call on this one was for other countries, because I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self-interest," Biden told reporters.

"Let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family," he added.

Whelan and Gershkovich had been jailed in Russia on false espionage allegations and the U.S. considered both to be wrongfully detained. Kurmasheva was arrested last fall on charges of spreading "false information" about the Russian military and the State Department was yet to designate her arrest as wrongful.

"It’s an ongoing process," State Department's Patel told daly briefing when pressed by TURAN's correspondent. " I’m not going to speak to that process publicly or in detail. But what I can say is that the Department of State, Secretary Blinken – he has been closely engaged in the cases and he’s particularly vocal in calling for Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alsu’s release. And we’re thankful that the deal came together that allowed that to happen today."

When asked whether the latest deal with Russia was a separate process from the Ukraine issue and that there will be no discussions with the Russians about Ukraine without Ukraine, Patel told TURAN's correspondent: "That is absolutely our policy."