Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva were among a group of 24 prisoners freed as part of the deal, as ITV News Reporter Caroline Lewis explains
American journalist Evan Gershkovich has arrived back in the United States as part of the country’s biggest prisoner exchange it has agreed with Russia in post-Soviet history.
Mr Gershkovich was one of three American citizens who were welcomed at an airfield in Maryland by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Former American marine Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual US-Russia citizenship, were also released as part of the prisoner swap.
In total, the deal freed 24 prisoners, 16 of whom were being detained in Russia – such as Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, who was imprisoned for criticising Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Eight prisoners, who had been charged or convicted of serious crimes, were given up and returned to Russia by the US and its allies in exchange.
President Biden hailed news of the deal, saying: “Deals like this one come with tough calls.”
He added: “There’s nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.”
Mr Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was jailed by a Russian Court in July for 16 years over claims of espionage on behalf of the US government.
The Wall Street Journal said in its statement that its team were “overwhelmed with relief” following the news.
The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
But, after his death in February, they organised a 24-person deal that took place on Thursday.
Biden placed securing the release of Americans held wrongfully overseas at the top of his foreign policy agenda for the six months before he leaves office.
In an Oval Office address discussing his decision to drop his bid for a second term, Biden said: We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.”
The Biden administration has now brought home more than 70 Americans detained in other countries as part of deals that have required the US to give up a broad array of convicted criminals, including for drug and weapons offences.
The swaps have spurred criticism that they incentivise future hostage-taking and give adversaries leverage over the US and its allies.
The US government’s top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, has sought to defend the deals by saying the number of wrongfully detained Americans has actually gone down even as swaps have increased.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
