JOINT BASE ANDREWS, United States – A plane carrying US citizens freed by Russia as part of an extraordinary swap deal with Washington landed in Maryland late on the night of August 1.
Journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, along with former US Marine Paul Whelan, were greeted by US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris upon their arrival at around 11:40 pm (11:40 am Singapore time on August 2) at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
The trio were among 24 prisoners released in a multi-country deal that had been secretly negotiated for over a year. The agreement included the exchange of 16 prisoners moving from Russia to the West and eight held in the West being sent back to Russia.