In a landmark prisoner exchange, three Americans have returned to U.S. soil after being freed by Russia. Journalist Evan Gershkovich, corporate security executive Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual U.S.-Russia citizenship, were welcomed by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday (August 1). The exchange is the largest of its kind since the Cold War.
The three Americans were flown from Maryland to Texas early Friday. Their release was part of a multinational deal that saw 24 prisoners freed in total, marking a significant diplomatic achievement for the Biden administration.
Whelan, a former Marine, was arrested by Russian authorities in December 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2020. Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was detained in March last year and accused of spying for the United States. Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in June 2023 and sentenced this summer to 6½ years in a Russian penal colony on a charge of spreading false information about the Russian military.
Upon their arrival at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Whelan described his imprisonment in Russia as “absolute nonsense by the Russian government.” He added, “I’m glad I’m home. I’m never going back there again.”
The exchange followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations and took place despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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