bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris hugged journalist Evan Gershkovich on Thursday as he and two other Americans arrived back on US soil after being freed by Russia in a huge prisoner swap.
Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, former US marine Paul Whelan, and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were met by cheers from family and friends as they disembarked a plane, before each embracing Biden and Harris.
“It feels wonderful, it was a long time coming,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, where he and Harris welcomed the freed prisoners at around 11.40pm.
They were among two dozen detainees released earlier Thursday in the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War.

A fourth freed prisoner, Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian Kremlin critic with US residency, was also among those freed but was returning separately to the United States.
In total 10 Russians, including two minors, were traded for 16 Westerners and Russians imprisoned in Russia in a dramatic exchange on the airport tarmac in Turkey’s capital Ankara.
“Alliances make a difference. They stepped up and took a chance for us,” Biden said of the deal, which also involved Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Belarus on the other side.
Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, heralded “an extraordinary day”.
The freed prisoners and their relatives are now expected to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for medical evaluations and any care they need at the Brooke Army Medical Centre, US media said.
The most high profile prisoner was Gershkovich, 32, who was detained in Russia in March 2023 on a reporting trip and sentenced in July to 16 years in prison on spying charges that were denounced by the United States.
Gershkovich smiled with his hands on his hips as he stepped onto the runway, before hugging Biden and Harris and speaking with them for around a minute.
“Not bad,” he replied as he greeted fellow journalists who asked how it felt to finally be home.

Gershkovich’s family said in a statement before his arrival that they had “waited 491 days for Evan’s release”.
“We can’t wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close,” they said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier given his own hero’s welcome to the freed prisoners from his country, in a mirror image of the ceremony that would unfold in the US.
They included Vadim Krasikov, a Russian intelligence agent imprisoned in Germany for assassinating a former Chechen rebel.
“I want to congratulate you on your return to the motherland,” Putin said.
The Kremlin said in a statement its decision to pardon and free prisoners “was made with the aim of returning Russian citizens detained and imprisoned in foreign countries”.

The historic swap happened after months of top secret negotiations and involved the release of Russians held for murder, espionage and other crimes.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the swap was “difficult” but had “saved lives”.
Berlin agreed to take a total of 12 detainees, including five with German nationality.
Among them is Rico Krieger, a German who was sentenced to death in Belarus on espionage charges before a reprieve this week.
Speculation about a deal had swirled for days after several detainees had disappeared from the prison system, but there was no confirmation until they finally switched planes in Ankara.
“We held our breath and crossed our fingers,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Former US president Donald Trump, who once predicted Gershkovich would not be released unless he won the November election, criticised the deal as too favourable to Russia.
“Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us!” Trump posted on his social media site.
Asked about Trump’s claim that he could have freed the wrongfully detained Americans without giving up anything in exchange, Biden replied: “why didn’t he do it when he was president?”
The exchange was the first between Russia and the West since star US basketball player Brittney Griner went home in return for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022.
It was the biggest since 2010, when 14 alleged spies were exchanged. They included double agent Sergei Skripal, who was sent by Moscow to Britain and undercover Russian agent Anna Chapman, sent by Washington to Russia.
Before then, major swaps involving more than a dozen people had only taken place during the Cold War, with Soviet and Western powers carrying out exchanges in 1985 and 1986.
The White House revealed that an even more ambitious agreement had been on the cards with attempts to negotiate the release of Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, before he died in February this year.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters


Hong Kong stocks advance on China stimulus bets and Fed interest rate cut

Hong Kong pares base rate in salve for borrowers, as a split Fed signals fewer cuts ahead

How Boston’s Chinatown overcame constant threats to win its place in history

Time for Germany to see reason and improve relations with China

United States

Biden, Harris greet Americans released in major Russia-West prisoner exchange

US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris greet reporter Evan Gershkovich. Photo: AP

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich hugs his mother, Ella Milman. Photo: EPA-EFE

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin welcomes Russians who were released in the prisoner exchange. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris greet former US Marine Paul Whelan. Photo: EPA-EFE

US President Joe Biden hugs journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. Photo: AP

US journalist and Russian assassin among those freed in huge prisoner swap

Evan Gershkovich, left, Alsu Kurmasheva, right, and Paul Whelan, second from right, and others aboard a plane on Thursday following their release from Russian captivity. Photo: White House via AP

US President Joe Biden is flanked by family members as he speaks about the release of Americans. Photo: Reuters

A Russian FSB officer escorts American journalist Evan Gershkovich. Photo: FSB via EPA-EFE

How the US-Russia prisoner swap happened: secret talks, a hitman and Biden’s fateful call

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was among those released. Russian Federal Security Service via AP

Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan celebrate their freedom. Photo: US Government via Reuters

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin greets Russian national Vadim Krasikov in Moscow. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

US President Joe Biden is flanked by family members as he speaks about the release of Americans detained in Russia. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

Russia & Central Asia

Three newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia


Three newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia.


Russia

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Biden, Harris greet Americans released in major Russia-West prisoner exchange

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Three newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia

Three newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia