Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, & Alsu Kurmasheva Arrive Back At Joint Base Andrews Shortly Before Midnight

Friday, August 2, 2024, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Jennifer Hodges: Englebrook Independent News,

WASHINGTON, DC.- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva arrived safely back on U.S. soil at Joint Base Andrews just 20 minutes before midnight last night in a historic prisoner swap that has not been seen since the Cold War.

     The three, as they stepped off the plane, were greeted in an emotional reunion by family members and President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

     The three American hostages were part of an extensive negotiated prisoner exchange involving the United States, Russia, and several other European Countries, including Germany and Slovenia, to which President Biden gave special recognition.

     The three were among two dozen people who were released on Thursday. Eight people were turned back over to Russia in exchange for the release of sixteen others, including Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. resident who was wrongfully detained by Russian authorities.

     Upon landing, Paul Whelan, who was the first to exit the plane, gave a salute before he was greeted by Biden and Harris. He was followed by Evan Gershkovich, who greeted both the President and Vice President before hugging both his emotional parents. Kurmasheva rushed into the arms of her waiting husband and daughters.

     Whelan, 54, spent just under six years in a Russian prison after his arrest in Moscow. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on an espionage charge that he and the U.S. denied. Gershkovich, 32, had been detained just shy of 16 months and was sentenced to 16 years in prison last month on an espionage charge that the U.S., the Wallstreet Journal, and his supporters called a sham. Kurmasheva, 47, was sentenced to 78 months in a Russian prison after being convicted of spreading false information about the Russian Army.

     Following greeting family members and the President and Vice President, the three freed Americans and their families boarded a plane and arrived safely near San Antonio shortly after 3:30 a.m. local Texas time, where they will be medically evaluated at Brooke Army Medical Center.