Americans released in Russian prisoner swap are back in the U.S.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva landed in the U.S. late Thursday after being included in a historic prisoner swap with Russia. 

Whelan exited the plane first at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland, followed by Gershkovich then Kurmasheva, who works for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe. The trio exchanged handshakes and hugs with President Biden and Vice President Harris, and embraced their family members as onlookers cheered.

"My job is to make sure, number one, they don't get there, and if they do, we get them back," Biden told reporters at the base as the released prisoners were mingled with family and greeted friends looking on. "I don't buy this idea that you're going to let these people rot in jail because other people may be captured."

They were among more than a dozen prisoners released by Russia in exchange for Russian prisoners held by the United States and countries throughout Europe, U.S. officials said Thursday.

In all, 16 political prisoners, journalists and others, including five Germans, were exchanged for eight Russians jailed in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland. Among the Russians is Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian state assassin in German custody, as well as three other Russians in U.S. custody.

"The toughest call on this one was for other countries," Biden said. "I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self interests, and really very difficult for them to do, particularly Germany and Slovenia."

Vice President Harris said, "This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy, and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances. This is an incredible day."

The prisoner exchange was one of the largest between the United States, its allies and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

“Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way,” said U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, adding the exchange was the “culmination of many rounds of complex painstaking negotiations over many, many months.”

Earlier, Biden said the deal was “a feat of diplomacy” and thanked allies who worked with the United States on it.

“This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend on,” he said in a statement.

Sullivan said Biden would seek to build on the success to try to free Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen still held in Russia, and other Americans held in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Gershkovich was arrested in Moscow in March 2023 and became the first U.S. journalist since the Cold War to be charged with espionage. Last month, a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, after he was accused by the Russian prosecutor of working with the CIA to collect information on a Russian arms company. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government strenuously denied the allegations, and the U.S. considered Gershkovich wrongfully detained.

Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran who holds U.S., British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on charges of espionage he strongly denied. A Moscow court sentenced him to 16 years in prison in June 2020.

Whelan’s case began receiving widespread attention as part of a failed proposal by the U.S. to bring him home, along with WNBA player Brittney Griner, who served 293 days in a Russian penal colony for having cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner returned to the U.S. in December 2022, but continued to advocate for Whelan’s release.

“We are overwhelmed with joy and relief for the four U.S. citizens who returned safely to America today,” Griner and her wife, Cherelle, said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Adminstration showed true leadership once again by doing whatever it took to bring Americans home. Every American returned is a win.”

The three freed prisoners later landed in San Antonio, Texas, where they are to be transported to Brooke Army Medical Center for Post Isolation Support Activities, a U.S government official said. Several family members and State Department personnel accompanied them on the flight.

NPR’s Rob Schmitz, Nick Spicer and Michele Keleman contributed to this report.