Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan are among the Americans released Thursday in a prisoner swap between the United States, Russia and other countries.
Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmashev, U.S. permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza and 12 German nationals held in Russia have also been released in exchange for eight Russian nationals who were being held in the U.S., Slovenia, Germany, Norway and Poland.
Central to the deal was the release of Russian FSB Col. Vadim Krasikov, who had been serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin in 2019, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on a call with reporters.
"It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals" if Krasikov was not included in the exchange, Sullivan said, thanking the German government.
In a statement Thursday, President Joe Biden called the deal “a feat of diplomacy” and vowed to reunite “every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world” with their families.
“I am grateful to our allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome — including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey,” he added. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon.”
A senior administration official said Biden had spoken to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in February about the swap. The official said Scholz told Biden, "For you, I will do this."
Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 while he was on assignment in Moscow. He was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison last month. Both the U.S. government and Gershkovich's employer, The Wall Street Journal, called his trial a "sham."
Emma Tucker, the Journal's editor-in-chief, celebrated Gershkovich's release in a statement: "While we waited for this momentous day, we were determined to be as loud as we could be on Evan’s behalf. We are so grateful for all the voices that were raised when his was silent. We can finally say, in unison, 'Welcome home, Evan.'"
Whelan, 54, had been serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of espionage in 2020. He was arrested in December 2018 while in Russia for a friend's wedding.
Both men and the U.S. government have vehemently denied allegations of espionage.
Negotiations in prisoner swaps between the U.S. and Russia have often been colored by political tensions. Sources told NBC News earlier this year that a deal to release Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as Whelan and Gershkovich, had been in the works before Navalny died in a penal colony in February. At the time, Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny's death.
In 2022, while criticizing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, former President Donald Trump said he had turned down a deal to secure Whelan's release in exchange for Bout. Whelan's family has said that Trump did little to move negotiations forward when he was president.
Trump has also repeatedly claimed that he would free Gershkovich from Russian detention if he wins the November election, boasting that Putin would "do that for me, but not for anyone else." His remarks were widely criticized, including for potentially scuttling the possibility of Gershkovich's release prior to the U.S. election.