Four U.S. residents wrongly imprisoned in Russia — including journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were released from a Russian prison on Thursday in the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
The deal involves involves 24 people, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens held in Russia, and eight Russians imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland.
In a statement, President Joe Biden called the deal that had led to the release of the four U.S. detainees a “feat of diplomacy and friendship.”
After the exchange took place in Turkey, all four U.S. detainees were on a plane back home Thursday afternoon. U.S. citizens Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva are traveling to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where they are expected to be met by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris when they land in the evening.
Gershkovich, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, was arrested in March 2023. He was charged with espionage in a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Whelan, a businessman who has been detained since visiting Russia for a friend’s wedding in 2018, was also convicted of espionage and had been serving a 16-year sentence.
Kurmasheva is a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. is a dual Russian British national and U.S. permanent resident who was arrested on treason charges for 25 years in April 2023.
“Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich,” Emma Tucker, The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief, said in a statement.
“All those who spoke up for Evan and worked for his release … can know that their support made a huge difference and is greatly, greatly appreciated,” Tucker added.
The most notable Russian prisoner released as part of the swap is Vadim Krasikov, who was jailed for life in Germany for the 2019 murder in Berlin of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili.
