Americans freed in Russia prisoner swap reunite with families
Three Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who were freed in a prisoner swap with Russia, have returned to the US.
Gershkovich, 32, was among 16 prisoners exchanged for eight Russian detainees in what is considered the largest swap since the Cold War era between Russia and the West.
The exchange, which took place at an airfield in Turkey, also saw the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
Upon arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Whelan were greeted by cheers from those on the tarmac. US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed them before they reunited with their families.
The three individuals stayed on the tarmac for photos and conversations before departing the airbase, along with Biden and Harris’s motorcades.
Ahead of their return, Biden praised their release, calling it the end of their “brutal ordeal.” He acknowledged the efforts of America’s allies, notably Germany and Slovenia, and described the release of Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza as a significant diplomatic achievement.
The released Americans will be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas for a medical evaluation.
The deal had been more than 18 months in the making and appears to have hinged on Moscow’s demand for the return of Vadim Krasikov – who was serving a life sentence in Germany for assassinating a Berlin park.
He is now back in Russia.
In total, 24 people from prisons in seven different countries were exchanged in Ankara, Turkey’s presidency said.
The prisoners were from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus, it said in a statement.
Ten people, including two minors, were relocated to Russia, 13 prisoners to Germany, and three to the US, the statement added.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin personally greeted the released Russians with bouquets at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
He embraced them warmly on a red carpet and said they would be given state awards.
Among those who returned to Moscow in addition to Krasikov was a Russian couple, convicted of spying in Slovenia, who returned to Russia with their two children.
Both Nato and the European Union welcomed the release which it said was mediated by Turkey.
German citizen Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death in Belarus before being pardoned by the country’s leader Alexander Lukashenko earlier this week, has also been released.
Earlier prisoner swap discussions had included jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but the offer collapsed when he died in unclear circumstances in an Arctic penal colony in February.
His widow Yulia Navalnaya welcomed the swap, describing it as a “joy”.
The exchange comes after days of speculation about a major swap between various countries, which increased after several dissidents and journalists jailed in Russia were moved from their prison cells to unknown locations.
Although secret prison transfers are common in Russia, the multiple disappearances of well-known prisoners were unusual.
The last high-profile prisoner swap took place in December 2022, when US basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been held in an American prison for 12 years.
The last comparable one occurred in Vienna in 2010 when 10 Russian spies held in the US were swapped for four alleged double agents held in Russia.
One of them was Sergei Skripal, a former military intelligence officer, later poisoned by nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
Tensions between Moscow and the West have been high in recent years, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
