Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan return to American soil after being freed in a historic prisoner exchange.
The plane carrying the Americans from their prison in Russia landed Thursday evening, after taking off from Ankara, Turkey, at around 8:00 p.m. local time.
The flight, which lasted about 10 hours, followed a four-hour flight from Moscow to Ankara. The plane landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly before midnight after Gershkovich, a 32-year-old Wall Street journalist, was seen boarding in Turkey.
He had been charged with espionage and was arrested in Russia while working as a journalist on March 29 last year. Whelan, a 54-year-old former marine, was sentenced to 16 years in 2020 after being arrested two years earlier on suspicion of spying.
Both were released on Thursday, part of the largest prisoner exchange between East and West since the Cold War. Also returning was Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was sentenced to more than six years in a Russian prison in a quick and secret trial late last month.
The plane carrying the Americans from their prison in Russia landed Thursday evening, after taking off from Ankara, Turkey, at around 8:00 p.m. local time.
Minutes before the trio landed, President Joe Biden and his motorcade headed to the landing zone, after Vice President Kamala Harris, who traveled separately, arrived shortly before.
Several Wall Street Journal employees were also seen, anxiously awaiting their co-worker’s arrival on the tarmac after nearly a year and a half.
The prisoners were seen shaking hands with the president and vice president on the tarmac, speaking briefly as onlookers applauded.
Earlier in the day, Biden, who is credited with brokering the release, spoke from the White House flanked by relatives of the hostages.
The same group received news of their loved ones’ landing directly from Biden, a U.S. official said, after Biden spoke to the prisoners by phone earlier in their trip.
“Their brutal ordeal is over and they are free,” Biden, 81, said shortly after noon Thursday, half a day before the trio landed.
He added that the former prisoners had just left Russia and were on their way home, and described how he spoke to the released prisoners from the Oval Office. He said their relatives were able to do so as well.
He went on to call the multinational agreement involving seven separate countries “a feat of diplomacy” as well as “friendship.”
Meanwhile, Russian state television also touted the talks and the subsequent agreement as a victory.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is seen leaving his year-and-a-half prison term early Thursday morning.
Paul Whelan (pictured) is seen being released from Moscow as part of a historic prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.
This is a developing story, please check back for more updates.