US President Joe Biden welcomed home three detainees released by Russia, including the American journalist Evan Gershkovich. It was the most significant prisoner swap between Russia and Western nations since the end of the Cold War.
Among the ex-prisoners were journalist Evan Gershkovich, former marine Paul Whelan, and Russo-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. They all arrived at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington late on Thursday evening and were greeted by relatives, President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, had been detained in Russia since March 2023 on the false premise that he was a spy. Similarly, Kurmasheva and Whelan, charged with espionage, had also been imprisoned.
The agreement enabled the release of 16 detainees held in Russia and Belarus in exchange for ten Russians incarcerated in the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Norway. “Ten prisoners, including two minors, were transferred to Russia, 13 to Germany, and three to the US”, Ankara clarified.
The “two minors” are supposedly the children of Russian spies Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva, arrested in Slovenia in late 2022 and placed in foster care, according to Slovenian media. The returned Russians included alleged Kremlin agent Vadim Krassikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for killing a Chechen separatist. They were greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin upon their plane’s touchdown in Moscow.
Earlier, Biden had hailed the “bold and courageous decisions” of European allies that made this “historic” exchange possible, commending the “significant concessions” made by Germany and Turkey’s coordination.
Journalist Evan Gershkovich lifts his mother, Ella Milman, as US President Joe Biden looks on, on the tarmac after arriving home at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/JvIItr468X
— Al Drago (@Al_Drago) August 2, 2024
Meeting the released prisoners at Cologne Airport, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described a "highly emotional" occasion, all the more joyful as many were surprised by their liberation. Scholz said that "Many feared for their health and lives."
Among those landing in German was Alexandra Skotchilenko, a 33-year-old Russian artist who was arrested in Russia in April 2022 for replacing supermarket price tags with messages denouncing the Ukraine offensive. She was sentenced in November 2023 to seven years in prison.
