The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, 41, was a journalist in peril in Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea

Stephen Capus, the president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Alsu Kurmasheva’s employer, said in a statement: “Alsu was targeted because she was an American journalist who was simply trying to take care of a family member inside Russia. She did nothing wrong and certainly did not deserve the unjust treatment and forced separation from her loving family members and colleagues. Alsu’s release makes us much more determined to achieve the freedom of three other RFE/RL journalists who have been imprisoned in Belarusian and Russian-occupied Crimea. We will keep going until our journalists are back home. Journalism is not a crime.”

His family said in a statement that Paul was held hostage for more than two years. His case was that of an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as part of their blighted initiative to use humans as pawns to extract concessions … Paul was homeless after being wrongly imprisoned in Russia. His job was lost. Someone has overcome losses after being a hostage, but we don’t know how. We are grateful for everyone’s efforts to help Paul while he was away. We want you to help Paul by giving him space and privacy as he tries to rebuild his life. It is Paul’s story to tell and he will tell it when he is able.”

He was arrested at Moscow’s upscale Metropol Hotel after he was given a thumb drive from a friend that he believed had photos of Russian churches, but actually contained “state secrets,” according to his lawyer. Whelan has maintained his innocence and the U.S. government has said he was convicted on fabricated charges.

They were among more than a dozen prisoners released by Russia in exchange for Russian prisoners held by the United States and countries throughout Europe, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Russian to U.S. Prisoner Exchange with Russia: Vladimir Kara-Murza, James Bond, Kurmasheva, and Ilya Yashin

The swap deal was praised by President Biden who thanked his allies that helped with the deal. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend on,” he said in a statement.

Jake Sullivan, a U.S. national security adviser, said that since the Cold War there was a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way.

Some who returned from Russia to the U.S. were Russian, including Gershkovich, and others were American like Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed appreciation to the Turkish government for “providing a location for the safe return of these individuals to the United States and Germany.”

The Turkish government said in a statement that it had played a key role and “conducted the most extensive prisoner exchange operation of recent times in Ankara,” involving not only Whelan and Gershkovich, but also Rico Krieger, whom it identified as a German mercenary imprisoned in Belarus; Russian dissident Ilya Yashin; and Vadim Krasikov, whom it identified as a colonel in the FSB, Russia’s internal security service.

During a court appearance in 2019, Whelan claimed that Russia caught James Bond on a spy mission. They actually took Mr. Bean on a holiday.

She was charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. Last month, she was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison after a trial that reportedly lasted just two days. The charges against her have been denied by her employer and the U.S. government.

In 2022, he gave an interview to CNN from Moscow in which he called the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin a “regime of murderers.” Within hours, he was arrested.

He has long opposed the Kremlin’s policy of assassinating political enemies and has drawn the attention of Russian authorities for urging the West to punish Moscow for its human-rights abuses.

A vocal critic of the Kremlin and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Kara-Murza spent two decades in a Russian penal colony after authorities accused him of treason and spreading fake information about the Russian military.

Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal have always denied the allegations against them. Gershkovich was deemed to have been wrongly imprisoned by the U.S. government.

Kseniya Fadeyeva, Rico Krieger, Kevin Lick, Herman Moyzhes, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarova, Patrick Schoebel, and Boris Skochilenko are listed.

The Prisoner Swap: A Memorandum for the Unjust Treatment of Women and Men in the Cold War and the Detention of Many Americans,” Biden said

“Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty,” President Biden said in a statement announcing the prisoner swap. “This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon.”

The Russian businessman was sentenced to nine years in prison for being involved in an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted him $93 million in ill-gotten gains. Klyushin made his profits from trades based on confidential corporate intel that had been stolen from US computer networks.

Konoshchenok was extradited to the US from Estonia last year to face charges relating to a money-laundering scheme. He was involved in a plan to give sensitive American-made electronics and weapons to Russia in order to further their war efforts.

Seleznev has been serving a 27-year prison sentence for running a vast credit-card and identity-theft operation. According to federal prosecutors, his crimes resulted in the theft and resale of more than 2 million credit card numbers, with losses of at least $170 million. His victims included more than 4,000 financial institutions and businesses around the world.

Five other people will be released from other countries, in addition to those being released from American prisons. Vadim Krasikov, a Russian man who was convicted in Berlin of killing a Georgia citizen, will be freed by German authorities.

Norway is releasing Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin; Poland will free Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov; and Slovenian authorities will let go Anna Valerevna Dultseva and Artem Viktorovich Dultsev.

The return of Whelan, Griner, Sullivan and the Biden-Harris Administration to the U.S. is a win

Whelan’s case began receiving widespread attention as part of a failed proposal by the U.S. to bring him home, along with WNBA player Brittney Griner, who served 293 days in a Russian penal colony for having cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner returned to the U.S. in December 2022, but continued to advocate for Whelan’s release.

We are overjoyed with joy and relief that the four US citizens have arrived safely in America, we said in a statement. The leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration was once again shown by doing whatever it took to bring Americans home. Every American returned is a win.”

Sullivan said Biden would seek to build on the success to try to free Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen still held in Russia, and other Americans held in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Gershkovich and the Russian journalist AlsuKurmasheva were first to leave the plane at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland. The trio exchanged handshakes and hugs with President Biden and Vice President Harris, and embraced their family members as onlookers cheered.