Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan released in massive US-Russia prisoner exchange

(The Hill) -- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were released in a historic prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday.

President Joe Biden confirmed that they, plus Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, were freed along with five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were being held as political prisoners.

He credited Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey with helping secure the deal and called it “a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.”

“Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families,” Biden said in a statement. “We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.”

In remarks from the White House, Biden was joined by family members of Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and Kara-Murza. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Gershkovich and other released prisoners had left Russian aircraft around 11 a.m. EDT in Ankara, Turkey. Biden said they would soon be headed back to the United States.

The president and the family members were able to speak with the released prisoners on the phone from the Oval Office. Asked what his message was, Biden said, “Welcome almost home.”

The president also emphasized how the U.S. worked not just to free its own citizens, but Russian dissidents who were held in their own country.

“It says a lot about the United States that we work relentlessly to free Americans who are unjustly held around the world,” Biden said. “But it also says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of Russian political prisoners.”

Whelan was arrested in 2018 and later convicted of spying, charges that he, his family and the U.S. has denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The U.S. government designated him “wrongfully detained” but had failed to secure his release in earlier prisoner exchanges that saw the release of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and WNBA star Brittney Griner, who were released in separate exchanges in 2022.  

Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of collecting state secrets on the Russian military on behalf of the U.S. government. He became the first American journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War and was sentenced in July to 16 years in prison.

Bloomberg was the first to report on the release, citing unnamed sources. 

The Biden administration, press freedom groups and Gershkovich's employer had all called for his release and dismissed the charges as fabricated.

Biden had previously said he was willing to agree to a prisoner swap to free Gershkovich, a tactic he had used before to secure the release of Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout — known as the “Merchant of Death.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated in a February interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he would be open to a prisoner exchange, and there had been speculation that Moscow wants the return of Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a Georgian citizen who fought against Russia in Chechnya.

Bloomberg also reported that Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. resident and husband to an American citizen, is also part of the exchange. Kara-Murza is a prominent Russian opposition politician who was arrested in Russia in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military related to its war in Ukraine. 

Republican and Democratic lawmakers began welcoming the release of the detained Americans — but also raised concern that prisoner exchanges risked motivating the hostage-taking of Americans and others. 

“I remain concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking by his regime,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement

He added that he was “thrilled” over the release of Gershkovich and Whelan, along with Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Kara-Murza, the U.S. resident and prominent Russian opposition politician.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also commented ahead of U.S. confirmation of the prisoner exchange. He spoke to the challenge of engaging in prisoner swaps without encouraging more arrests. 

“It's always a mixed blessing, because the detainees in Russia shouldn't be detainees, the prisoners that we're going to swap are people who have committed really bad things,” he told reporters in a roundtable Wednesday.

"So it always is hard for us to accept that. But the realities are that that's who we are as individuals, that's our values. Our values is to take care of people who are wrongfully detained if we can get them released. We're prepared to make certain sacrifices, which is unfair, but it does provide certain hopes for people who shouldn't be incarcerated.”