03:27Three American citizens, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, arrived at the Joint Airbase Andrews in Maryland on Thursday and received a warm welcome as they returned to homeland following a 'monumental' prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
Footage shows Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva stepping off the plane, receiving greetings from Biden and Harris before emotionally reuniting with their loved ones. Biden was also seen speaking to the reporters following the reunion.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist, and Whelan, an ex-US Marine, were arrested in Russia in March 2023 and December 2018, respectively. On June 19, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime penal colony on espionage charges. Whelan was found guilty in June 2020 on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison as well.
Russian-American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to six and a half years in prison in July 2022.
The three were part of a historic prisoner swap between Moscow and five Western countries announced on Thursday, with 26 detainees released and returned to their countries overall. Apart from them, another American green card holder, activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, was also granted freedom and had flown to Germany.
The swap deal was confirmed by Biden on Thursday, as he addressed the nation and hosted the prisoners' family members in the Oval Office.
"Today, we're bringing home Paul, Evan, Alsu [and] Vladimir," Biden stated, noting all four have been imprisoned 'unjustly' in Russia. "And now, their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free."
Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were released from Russian prisons and headed to Ankara, before making their flight back to the US airbase.
Twenty-six individuals - 24 adults and two minors - were freed on Thursday, following the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Sixteen prisoners held in Russia and ten people, including two minors, in the US, Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia were released from jails as a part of the exchange.
Welcome home! Gershkovich, Whelan, Kurmasheva emotionally reunite with loved ones following major prisoner swap with Russia
Three American citizens, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, arrived at the Joint Airbase Andrews in Maryland on Thursday and received a warm welcome as they returned to homeland following a 'monumental' prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
Footage shows Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva stepping off the plane, receiving greetings from Biden and Harris before emotionally reuniting with their loved ones. Biden was also seen speaking to the reporters following the reunion.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist, and Whelan, an ex-US Marine, were arrested in Russia in March 2023 and December 2018, respectively. On June 19, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime penal colony on espionage charges. Whelan was found guilty in June 2020 on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison as well.
Russian-American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to six and a half years in prison in July 2022.
The three were part of a historic prisoner swap between Moscow and five Western countries announced on Thursday, with 26 detainees released and returned to their countries overall. Apart from them, another American green card holder, activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, was also granted freedom and had flown to Germany.
The swap deal was confirmed by Biden on Thursday, as he addressed the nation and hosted the prisoners' family members in the Oval Office.
"Today, we're bringing home Paul, Evan, Alsu [and] Vladimir," Biden stated, noting all four have been imprisoned 'unjustly' in Russia. "And now, their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free."
Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were released from Russian prisons and headed to Ankara, before making their flight back to the US airbase.
Twenty-six individuals - 24 adults and two minors - were freed on Thursday, following the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Sixteen prisoners held in Russia and ten people, including two minors, in the US, Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia were released from jails as a part of the exchange.
Three American citizens, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, arrived at the Joint Airbase Andrews in Maryland on Thursday and received a warm welcome as they returned to homeland following a 'monumental' prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
Footage shows Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva stepping off the plane, receiving greetings from Biden and Harris before emotionally reuniting with their loved ones. Biden was also seen speaking to the reporters following the reunion.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist, and Whelan, an ex-US Marine, were arrested in Russia in March 2023 and December 2018, respectively. On June 19, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime penal colony on espionage charges. Whelan was found guilty in June 2020 on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison as well.
Russian-American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to six and a half years in prison in July 2022.
The three were part of a historic prisoner swap between Moscow and five Western countries announced on Thursday, with 26 detainees released and returned to their countries overall. Apart from them, another American green card holder, activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, was also granted freedom and had flown to Germany.
The swap deal was confirmed by Biden on Thursday, as he addressed the nation and hosted the prisoners' family members in the Oval Office.
"Today, we're bringing home Paul, Evan, Alsu [and] Vladimir," Biden stated, noting all four have been imprisoned 'unjustly' in Russia. "And now, their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free."
Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were released from Russian prisons and headed to Ankara, before making their flight back to the US airbase.
Twenty-six individuals - 24 adults and two minors - were freed on Thursday, following the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Sixteen prisoners held in Russia and ten people, including two minors, in the US, Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia were released from jails as a part of the exchange.