Three Americans back in the US after landmark Russia prisoner deal

The plane caryying Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist holding dual U.S.-Russia citizenship, landed in the U.S. just before midnight to reunite with their families.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed them upon arrival.

This follows a histoic prisoner exchange in post-Soviet history carried out by the United States and Russia on Thursday.

Moscow released journalist Gershkovich, In 2023, he was imprisoned and found guilty in July of spying charges that he and the U.S. government strongly refuted.

His family expressed their eagerness to embrace him and see his courageous smile in person in a statement released by the newspaper.

The editor-in-chief of the paper, Emma Tucker, described it as a "happy day."

Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed since 2018, also on espionage charges he and Washington have denied. Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.

Among those released were Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer sentenced to 25 years on politically motivated treason charges, along with several of Navalny's associates.

Also freed were Kremlin critics Oleg Orlov, a long-time human rights activist found guilty of discrediting the Russian military, and Ilya Yashin, who was jailed for speaking out against the war in Ukraine.

They were all released as part of a multinational agreement that resulted in the freedom of two dozen individuals.

Biden trumpeted the exchange, by far the largest in a series of swaps with Russia, as a diplomatic feat while welcoming families of the returning Americans to the White House.

“Deals like this one come with tough calls,” Biden said, He added: “There’s nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.”

However, the agreement, similar to previous ones, highlighted a fundamental imbalance: The U.S. and its allies surrendered Russian individuals accused or found guilty of severe offenses in return for Russia freeing journalists, dissidents, and other individuals detained by the country's heavily politicized legal system on what the West views as fabricated charges.

The exchange occurred even though Washington and Moscow's relationship hit rock bottom following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Backchannel negotiators initially considered a swap involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but after his passing in February, they ultimately brokered a 24-person deal that demanded substantial compromises from European allies.

During secret discussions, negotiators considered a swap related to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, however, following his passing in February, they finalized a complex agreement involving 24 individuals that demanded major compromises from European partners.

This deal led to the release of a Russian killer and the liberation of a group of reporters, alleged spies, dissidents, and more.

When Navalny passed away, there were talks about a potential swap with Krasikov.

However, after that possibility was ruled out, high-ranking U.S. officials, such as national security adviser Jake Sullivan, intensified efforts to persuade Germany to free Krasikov.

Ultimately, some of the individuals Russia set free were either German citizens or held dual German-Russian citizenship.

Russia obtained two supposed sleeper agents who were imprisoned in Slovenia, along with three individuals indicted by U.S. federal authorities.

This group includes Roman Seleznev, a convicted hacker and the son of a Russian politician, and Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence agent accused of supplying American electronics and ammunition to the Russian military.

Norway repatriated an academic suspected of espionage for Russia, while Poland returned a man it had detained on espionage allegations.

"Today illustrates the importance of having allies in the world," Biden stated.