President Joe Biden said their “brutal ordeal” is over for three American citizens, two journalists and a former Marine, who were arrested and held in Russia, accused of spying.
Evan Gershkovich, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were both released in a historic prisoner swap on Thursday, the biggest since the Cold War.
Also released were Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition activist who holds an American green card.
“This is a good day,” Biden said at a press conference with family members of the prisoners. “Now their brutal ordeal is over and they are free.”
“This is an incredible relief for all the families gathered here,” Biden said. “It’s a relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country who have been praying for this day for a long time.”
The three Americans were flown to Turkey earlier today and will soon be on their way home to their families, Biden said.
The president and the families were able to speak to the prisoners on the telephone from the Oval Office, Biden said.
A total of 24 prisoners were released in the deal, which involved at least six countries. Germany, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, and Turkey all cooperated with the U.S. on the prisoner release, Biden said.
Russian hit man Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany, was reportedly at the center of the agreement.
“The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship,” Biden said.
“It says a lot about the United States that we work relentlessly to free Americans who are unjustly held around the world,” the president said. “But it also says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of Russian political prisoners. They stood up for democracy and human rights. Their own leaders threw them in prison. The United States helped secure their release as well. That’s who we are in the United States. We stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice not only for our own people but for others as well.”
Biden added that “deals like this come with tough calls.”
Biden also prompted the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to Kurmasheva’s young daughter, Miriam, and gave her a hug.
When asked whether he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden responded, “I don’t need to speak with Putin.”
Biden was also asked about former President Donald Trump’s statement that he would secure Journal reporter Gershkovich’s release if re-elected.
“Why didn’t he do it when he was president?” Biden responded.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023, more than two years after Trump left the White House. Russian authorities accused him of being a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spy. He was convicted in June. Russian prosecutors alleged that Gershkovich collected “secret information” regarding a Russian defense contractor “using painstaking conspiratorial methods.” He was held in a Stalin-era prison in Moscow and reportedly only allowed one hour a day to walk around.
Whelan, 54, a former Marine who is also the former director of global security for auto-parts supplier BorgWarner, was arrested in 2018 at a wedding in Moscow. He was accused of spying and of possessing a flash drive with Russian state secrets. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Kurmasheva, 47, the Russian American journalist, was convicted by a Russian court of spreading false information about Russia’s military. She was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. She was detained in June 2023 while visiting her sick mother.
Kara-Murza, the Russian opposition activist and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, was arrested after he returned to Russia in April 2022. He was charged with treason for speaking out against the war in Ukraine. He claims he had been poisoned by Russian authorities and developed a nerve condition. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Eight Russians were released back to Russia as part of the deal, including several Russian spies, a former high-ranking Russian Federal Security Service colonel convicted of murder by a German court, a Russian citizen accused of scheming to provide American-made electronics and ammunition to Russia, and a Russian businessman who was sentenced in Boston to nine years for a $93 million criminal scheme.
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