United States President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday that Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Vladimir Kara-Murza, five Germans, and seven Russian citizens were released as part of a Washington-Moscow prisoner swap.
"Today, their agony is over," Biden said in a statement while thanking Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey for serving as allies in achieving the liberation of the 16 people from Russia.
According to the WSJ, Gershkovich and other US citizens disembarked from a Russian aircraft at around 11:20 a.m. ET in Ankara, Turkey. They were then taken to an aircraft lounge by bus. Kurmasheva and Kara-Murza are also journalists, and there are other political dissidents within the group.
