Emotional Reunions Follow US-Russia Prisoner Exchange

Critics argue the deal favored Russia, but former prisoners and their families are celebrating a wartime near-miracle.

Evgenia Kara-Murza and her children talk on the phone with detained journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza as President Joe Biden and families of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva look on following their release in a prisoner swap with Russia, Thursday, August 1, 2024, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

“3 newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia,” reported Eric Tucker, Dasha Litvinova, and Matthew Lee for the Associated Press on August 2, 2024.

The deal, panned by some as favoring Russia, was completed after a high-stakes, behind-the-scenes drama in which officials from the Biden Administration worked tirelessly to negotiate the terms.

“The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free,” began Tucker, Litvinova, and Lee for the AP.

President Joe Biden meets with the families of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza after their release in a prisoner swap with Russia, Thursday, August 1, 2024, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

“The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine,” the trio added.