Hugs and smiles as Americans come home after Russian prisoner swap

(NewsNation) — Three of the four Americans released from Russian custody Thursday are back in the U.S. The plane carrying retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich touched down at Joint Base Andrews late Thursday after flights that took them from Russia to Germany, then to the military base outside Washington, D.C.

Gershkovich and Whelan were released into U.S. custody after spending 16 months and more than 5 1/2 years, respectively, behind bars in Russia.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted the men on the tarmac. The two walked to the plane and stood at the base of the stairs and were the first to greet Whelan, who was first off the plane.

“Great satisfaction, and a feeling of relief for the families,” Biden told reporters after greeting Whelan, Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe reporter who was also freed by Russia.

“This is an example of the strength of American leadership, of bringing nations together,” Harris added.

Emotional reunion on the tarmac

Whelan came out first, shaking the president’s hand as they exchanged words. Whelan then spoke to Harris, hugged Biden and Harris, gave a short wave and hugged family members.

Gershkovich was next, hugging Harris first, shook hands and hugged Biden, and then reunited with his family.

The two were followed off the plane by Kurmasheva, a Russian American journalist working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She was detained in 2023 after visiting her mother in Russia and trying to return to her home in Prague, Czech Republic. Last month a Russian court convicted her for spreading false information about the Russian army.

All three have opted to participate in a support program that supports people who’ve been in captivity, according to a U.S. government official.

The historic prisoner swap included 26 people and cooperation from seven countries: Russia, the U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“The return of Michigander Paul Whelan, along with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and others, is tremendous news,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said.

While many are celebrating the return of Gershkovich and Whelan, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul expressed concern over the practice of swapping prisoners at all.

“Continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage-taking by his regime,” McCaul said in a statement Thursday.

On TruthSocial, former President Donald Trump also attacked the deal, demanding details and information on whether money was exchanged while saying the U.S. never makes good deals.

“Our “negotiators” are always an embarrassment to us! I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING – and never any cash. To do so is bad precedent for the future. That’s the way it should be, or this situation will get worse and worse,” he said.

While several Americans were returned during Trump’s administration, the releases were often the result of prisoner swaps similar to this one.

Inside the prisoner swap with Russia

The trade followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The released prisoners were transported to Turkey on seven planes early Thursday, Biden said. Biden confirmed eight people were relocated to Russia, 12 were relocated to Germany and four to the U.S.

Among those returning to Russia is Vadim Krasikov, who was imprisoned in Germany. Krasikov is a Russian hitman arrested and sentenced in 2021 for murdering a Georgian citizen in Berlin who’d fought against the Russian military, the report said.

Speculation about the swap began Tuesday when many of the prisoners were being moved from their holding cells and transferred.

Previously, the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War took place in 2010, involving 14 people in total. 

Who was released from Russia? 

Biden confirmed that 16 people being detained in Russia were being released, including five Germans and seven Russian civilians who were being held as political prisoners.

“Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,” Biden said.

Here’s a complete list of people released from Russia and where they are being relocated:

Germany

• Liliya Chanysheva: Former Navalny regional coordinator, sentenced to nine and a half years 
• Kseniya Fadeyeva: Former Navalny regional coordinator, sentenced to nine years 
• Rico Krieger: German sentenced to death on terrorism charges, pardoned by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, Tuesday 
• Kevin Lick: Germany-born Russian citizen sentenced to four years for allegedly providing information to German special services 
• Herman Moyzhes: Lawyer charged with treason for helping Russians obtain residence permits in Europe
• Oleg Orlov: Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, sentenced to two and a half years in February 
• Vadim Ostanin: Former staffer in Alexei Navalny’s foundation
• Andrey Pivovarov: Opposition activist and human rights defender
• Patrick Schoebel: Detained at airport for carrying cannabis gummies in bag
• Sasha Skochilenko: An anti-war artist
• Dieter Voronin: Accused of treason
• Ilya Yashin: Prominent Kremlin critic serving an eight and a half year sentence for criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine

United States

• Evan Gershkovich: Wall Street Journal reporter
• Vladimir Kara-Murza: Russian-British dissident 
• Alsu Kurmasheva: Russian-American dual national and journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was convicted in July of spreading false information about the military and sentenced to six and a half years 
• Paul Whelan: Former U.S. Marine

Who is returning to Russia?

In exchange for the 16 people held in Russia, several countries have agreed to release prisoners back to Russia. In total, eight people were released back to Russia.

Here’s a list of people returning to Russia and from which country they were released:

From Germany

• Vadim Krasikov: Convicted of murder in the death of Chechen fighter Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, serving life in prison

From Norway

• Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin: Russian spy arrested in Norway

From Poland

• Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov: Russian spy living in Poland

From Slovenia

• Artem Viktorovich Dultsev: Russian spy living undercover in Slovenia
• Anna Valerevna Dultseva: Russian spy living undercover in Slovenia

From the United States

• Vladislav Klyushin: Serving nine years in a “hack-to-trade” scheme
• Vadim Konoshchenock: Facing charges of conspiracy and money laundering for the Russian government
• Roman Seleznev: Serving 27 years for hacking and credit card fraud

Evan Gershkovich convicted in July

“Evan is free and on his way home,” the Wall Street Journal told NewsNation in a statement. “We are overwhelmed with relief and elated for Evan and his family, as well as for the others who were released.”

Gershkovich was convicted last month of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges that his employer and the U.S. government have rejected as fabricated.

Gershkovich was in Russia on a reporting trip in March 2023 when he was arrested and accused of espionage.

Russia alleged Gershkovich was “gathering secret information” at the CIA’s behest about a facility that produces and repairs military equipment. It provided no evidence to support the accusations.

Gershkovich was the first American reporter to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War.

In a statement, the Gershkovich family expressed gratitude for the deal.

“We have waited 491 days for Evan’s release, and it’s hard to describe what today feels like. We can’t wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close. Most important now is taking care of Evan and being together again. No family should have to go through this, and so we share relief and joy today with Paul and Alsu’s families.

“We are grateful to President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Chancellor Scholz and every U.S. or foreign government official who helped get Evan released.

“Our family has felt so much love and support from Evan’s fellow journalists, his wonderful friends, and many, many people around the world. It made a difference to Evan and to us. And we especially thank Evan’s colleagues at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. They have taken care of Evan and our entire family since the beginning, and we are forever grateful,” the family said.

Fight to bring Paul Whelan home

“Paul, after more than five years, we finally get to say, welcome home,” Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., posted to X on Thursday. “Justice has prevailed and today, an innocent man is free. God Bless America.”

Whelan, who was originally arrested over spying allegations, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

The 54-year-old corporate security executive from Michigan was arrested in 2018 in Moscow where he was attending a friend’s wedding. He has maintained his innocence, saying the charges were fabricated.

Whelan’s family refused to let him be forgotten and were relentless in visiting and calling officials in Washington to get the former Marine home.

Upon learning of his release, the Whelan family released a statement that thanked all those involved in getting their loved one home.

“Paul Whelan is free,” the statement, which Whelan’s brother David started writing in 2022, began.

“Paul was held hostage for 2,043 days. His case was that of an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as part of their blighted initiative to use humans as pawns to extract
concessions. Our family is grateful that members of Congress from both sides of the aisle
expressed concern for Paul as an American, regardless of politics.”

Read the full Whelan family statement here:

His family became even more concerned for Whelan late last year after he was attacked in a prison workshop by other inmates. The attacking prisoner allegedly punched him in the face, breaking his glasses.

Whelan previously endured violence when he was in pretrial detention in Moscow at the hands of a guard who was later reprimanded. He has also endured verbal abuse at the labor camp to which he was assigned.

He was left out of a prisoner exchange in April 2022 that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed. That swap escalated pressure on the Biden administration to avoid another one-for-one swap that didn’t include Whelan.

That pressure grew when basketball star Brittney Griner was detained for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She was sentenced to nine years in prison but was eventually freed in December 2022 during another one-on-one prisoner exchange with Russia for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. 

When the swap didn’t include Whelan, it sparked outrage among his family and supporters.

Americans remaining in Russia

Among U.S. nationals remaining behind bars in Russia include former school teacher Marc Fogel, who was convicted in 2002 for possessing marijuana, which he said he used for medical reasons. He has been serving a 14-year sentence.

Fogel was not a part of the swap with Russia, his attorney confirmed to NewsNation. He said Fogel’s family was “in shock.”

Members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation have been calling on the Biden administration to include Fogel in any prisoner swap with Russia.

Arrests of Americans are increasingly common in Russia, especially since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

“Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan’s unjust imprisonment as hostages is yet another sobering reminder of how evil the Putin regime really is,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., wrote in response to the news of their release.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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