WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia completed a multinational prisoner exchange Thursday that returned several Americans to their homes, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
The swap involved a total of 16 people from several countries who had been detained by Russia, including seven of its own citizens held as “political prisoners.” Western nations released a total of eight Russians under the deal.
President Joe Biden said in a speech at the White House that the negotiations were a “diplomatic feat” that would not have been possible without the cooperation of allied nations.
“This deal would not have been possible without our allies: Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey,” Biden said. “They stood with us and made bold and courageous decisions — releasing prisoners held in their countries who were rightly held and providing logistical support so Americans could come home.”
“So if anyone has any doubts about whether allies are important, the answer is yes,” he added.
Biden was accompanied by family members of three American hostages freed on Thursday as he delivered his speech. He said they had spoken to their loved ones by phone earlier in the day and planned to meet them at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland once their plane landed.
Biden said that during his presidency, he tasked staff with identifying where Americans were being held abroad and developing plans to release them.
“To date, my administration has brought home more than 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage overseas, many of which occurred before I took office,” Biden said. “In addition, I issued an executive order in 2022 authorizing penalties, such as sanctions and travel bans, for those who hold Americans against their will.”
Biden, who is not seeking re-election, said he will continue to work in his remaining months in office to bring home other Americans who have been wrongly detained.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a White House news conference that officials had completed “one of the largest and certainly most complex exchanges in history.”
Journalists and dissidents released
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while working for the Wall Street Journal and sentenced to 16 years in prison last month in a secret trial. The Wall Street Journal and U.S. officials have vehemently denied the allegations.
Whelan, of Michigan, was arrested in 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2020, on charges he and U.S. officials have repeatedly denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in the Russian prison system.
Among the prisoners released in the exchange were Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist working for Radio Free Europe, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for “passionate columns written at great personal risk from a prison cell.”
Kurmasheva he was sentenced to In July, she was sentenced to more than six years in prison on charges of spreading “false information” about the Russian military, a charge her family and officials have denied.
Kara-Murza, who has dual citizenship with Russia and the UK, has been a long-time critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. Russian officials detained him in 2022 and sentenced him to 25 years in prison in 2023.
Before the imprisonment of Kara-Murza accused Russian officials about poisoning him.
Biden noted in his speech that Kara-Murza has a green card and attended the funeral of Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain with him.
Greetings from the Congress
Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement that Thursday was “a joyful and long-awaited day for Paul, his family and all who worked tirelessly to bring him back home to Michigan.”
“I have worked with administration officials, my colleagues and Paul’s family for the past several years to press for his release, and I am beyond relieved that today marks the end of this unimaginable nightmare for Paul and his loved ones,” Peters wrote. “Michigan welcomes him home with open arms.”
Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow released a written statement saying Whelan’s release was “wonderful news.”
“After more than five years, Paul Whelan is coming home,” Stabenow wrote. “I know the last few years have been unbearable for Paul and his family. I am so happy they will see Paul soon.”
Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, called on the Biden administration to secure the release of Marc Fogel from a Russian prison.
“This prisoner exchange is good news for Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and their families, but Marc Fogel remains in a Russian prison,” Casey said in a statement.
“Marc Fogel is a Pittsburgh teacher with chronic health issues whose health has deteriorated significantly during his incarceration,” Casey added. “His 95-year-old mother, Malphine, fears she will never see him again. As we celebrate today’s good news, we cannot forget Marc and the Fogel family.”
Family seeks facilitate for Pa. teacher imprisoned in Russia: ‘We are not forgetting my brother’
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said in a statement that he was “delighted” that the hostages were returned home but expressed concern “that continuing to trade innocent Americans for real Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous signal to Putin that only encourages his regime to continue taking hostages.”
“We should also not forget the Americans who may still be held in Russia, such as Marc Fogel and Ksenia Karelina, as well as those held in other countries, including Mark Swidan, Kai Li and David Lin, who are held in China, and Ryan Corbett, who is held in Afghanistan,” McCaul said. “We must also get them all home to their families.”
During a White House briefing, Sullivan said officials were “actively working” to free Fogel from Russia, as well as Americans held in Syria and Afghanistan.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said in a statement that the Americans’ release “marks a welcome end to the nightmare they and their loved ones have endured.”
“These Americans should never have had to endure the hardships imposed on them by the Kremlin, but thanks to the relentless efforts of the Biden-Harris administration and their families, including Paul’s sister Elizabeth, Evan’s parents Ella and Mikhail, and Alsou’s husband Pavel, their ordeal has finally come to an end,” Cardin said.
The Maryland Democrat also appealed to “Americans who are considering traveling to Russia, especially those with dual citizenship, to learn from the experiences of these wrongfully detained Americans and avoid traveling to Russia.”
