Americans released in Russia prisoner swap touch down on U.S. soil

Washington — Three Americans released by Russia in a complex prisoner swap involving 24 people being held in six countries arrived on U.S. soil late Thursday night. President Biden and Vice President Harris were on hand to welcome them home.

A plane carrying Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after they were freed as part of the swap that also involved Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway. 

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic, was also released, but opted to go to Germany, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. 

As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. The prisoners were traded on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, earlier Thursday. 

In remarks from the White House earlier in the day, Mr. Biden credited “the feat of diplomacy,” saying the United States’ relationships with its allies were “vital” to securing the prisoners’ freedom after months of difficult negotiations. 

“Now, their brutal ordeal is over and they’re free,” he said, standing alongside their families. 

Harris, who was in Houston earlier Thursday, praised the Americans and their families for their “incredible courage in the face of atrocious and devastating circumstances.” 

Whelan and Gershkovich were imprisoned in Russia on spying allegations that their families and the U.S. have vehemently rejected. The U.S. considered both to be wrongfully detained. 

Kurmasheva was arrested in June 2023 on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military.  

Whelan was not included in two prior prisoner swaps involving Americans Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner, both of whom were detained after his arrest in 2018. The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan lobbying for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten. 

Whelan and his family feared that Gershkovich’s arrest in March 2023 would complicate securing his release and he could be left behind a third time. 

In mid-July, hesitant to reveal details about where possible negotiations with Russia stood, Roger Carstens, the nation’s chief hostage diplomat, said the U.S. was intent on bringing both Gershkovich and Whelan home. 

“I know Evan and Paul will come home to the United States and step onto U.S. soil. I just don’t know when,” he said during 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.