A large-scale multicountry prisoner swap organized by the Biden administration resulted in the release Thursday of three Americans and one U.S. green card holder, who the U.S. said were unjustly held prisoner in Russia.
The released American citizens were Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained for 16 months; Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was arrested last October; and Paul Whelan, a former Marine who was held prisoner for nearly six years.
“Now the brutal ordeal is over and they’re free,” President Joe Biden said in remarks from the White House, where he was surrounded by family members of the freed Americans.
