3 newly freed Americans are back on US soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three newly freed Americans are back on U.S. soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia. Journalist Evan Gershkovich, corporate security executive Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual U.S.-Russia citizenship, arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly before midnight Thursday for a reunion with their families. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were there to greet them. They continued to a Texas military base for medical evaluations early Friday. They were part of the biggest U.S.-Russian prisoner swap in post-Soviet history that officials say set two dozen people free. The trade follows years of back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War.