The U.S. and Russia completed a massive prisoner swap that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Turkish officials said Thursday.

The exchange of more than two dozen took place in Turkey.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. and Russia completed a massive prisoner swap with Russia that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Turkish officials said Thursday

  • The exchange of more than two dozen took place in Turkey; all told, according to the Turkish government, the swap involved 26 people between seven countries

  • Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 while on assignment in Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, which the U.S. and his employer vehemently denied; he was sentenced last month to 16 years in a maximum-security prison

  • Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, which the U.S. similarly denied, and was also sentenced to 16 years in prison

All told, according to the Turkish government, the swap involved 26 people between seven countries. Ten, including two children, were sent to Russia, with 13 going to Germany and three to the U.S.

News of the swap was first reported by Bloomberg.

In a statement Thursday morning, Biden confirmed the release of Whelan and Gershkovich, as well as journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza.

"The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy," Biden said. "All told, we’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over."

Biden thanked the allied nations involved in the release, naming Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey, emphasizing the importance of those global partnerships. "This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer."

"Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world," Biden said. "And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong."

Biden pledged that he "will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family," noting that his administration has secured the release of more than 70 Americans held abroad with such a designation, "many of whom were in captivity since before I took office."

The swap serves as a major diplomatic victory for Biden's administration, which has prioritized bringing home Americans who have been wrongfully detained. In 2022, the Biden administration secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested at a Moscow airport and convicted of smuggling and posessing cannabis, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Earlier this year, the administration secured the release of Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy. 

In his Oval Office address last week explaining his decision to step aside from the Democratic ticket and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in November's election, Biden said that one of the top priorities for his remaining six months in office is to secure the release of Americans wrongfully held abroad. (In fact, White House communications director Ben LaBolt confirmed that Biden was working on the swap the day he decided to drop out of the race for president.)

"We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world," Biden said.

But it comes at a price: Russia has secured the freedom of its own nationals convicted of serious crimes in the West by trading them for journalists, dissidents and other Westerners convicted and sentenced in a highly politicized legal system on charges the U.S. considers bogus.

Russia has long been interested in getting back Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscow’s security services. Krasikov was released by Germany as part of the swap.

Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 while on assignment in Yekaterinburg, claiming without evidence that he was spying for the United States. Both Gershkovich and his employer vehemently denied the allegations, and the United States considered him wrongfully detained. He was sentenced last month to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.

The Journal celebrated the reporter's release with an article headlined, "WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Is Free."

“Evan is free and on his way home," said Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker in a joint statement, adding: "We are overwhelmed with relief and elated for Evan and his family, as well as for the others who were released."

"At the same time, we condemn in the strongest terms Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, which orchestrated Evan’s 491-day wrongful imprisonment based on sham accusations and a fake trial as part of an all-out assault on the free press and truth," they continued. "Unfortunately, many journalists remain unjustly imprisoned in Russia and around the world."

"Evan and his family have displayed unrivaled courage, resilience and poise during this ordeal, which came to an end because of broad advocacy for his release around the world," they added.

Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, which the U.S. similarly denied, and was also sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan, who also holds British, Irish, and Canadian citizenships, was arrested in Russia while using his U.S. passport.

Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens celebrated the release of "my constituent, Paul Whelan" in a statement posted to social media.

"Paul, after more than five years, we finally get to say, welcome home," she said. "You lost your job, your home, and your dog, but we never lost our faith in you."

In a statement posted online, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and CEO Stephen Capus acknowledged media reports Kurmasheva would be released as part of the deal.

Capus said the broadcaster welcomed ’’news of Alsu’s imminent release and are grateful to the American government and all who worked tirelessly to end her unjust treatment by Russia.”

Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.

Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of a confluence of unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich that Washington regarded as a sham.

Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations.

Pennsylvania lawmakers celebrated the news while pushing for any swap to include Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania teacher detained in Russia since 2021 for posession of medical marijuana.  

"Marc is a Pennsylvania teacher with severe health issues who has been unjustly imprisoned in a Russian prison for three years, and as the congressional members who represent Marc and his family, we have been pushing to bring Marc home as quickly as possible," a joint statement from Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and Reps. Mike Kelly, Chris Deluzio and Guy Reschenthaler. "As negotiations are ongoing with the Russian Federation, we respectfully request that any potential prisoner swap include Marc Fogel."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.