(AFP) – 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 11:40 pm (0340 GMT). 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 Center, US media said.
– Historic swap –
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.
– ‘Saved lives’ –
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 Advisor Jake Sullivan said. 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.
burs-dk/bjt/rsc – Brendan Smialowski with Danny Kemp in Washington
© 2024 AFP
