FSB Public Relations Centre/ROSSIYA 24 TV Channel via REUTERS
“I know there are many times over those years where they have wondered if our work would ever bear fruit,” he added. “But I also know that they never gave up hope, and neither did we.”
Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges and held in pre-trial detention for more than a year before he was convicted in July. There was no public evidence to support the prosecution’s case, and both the US government and The Wall Street Journal repeatedly decried his allegations as false.
He spent nearly 500 days behind bars before his release on Thursday.
Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges and given a 16-year prison sentence in 2020. As was the case with Gershkovich, the Biden administration considered him “wrongfully detained” and argued for his release.
“Russian authorities arrested them, convicted them in show trials, and sentenced them to long prison terms with absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever. None,” Biden said of Gershkovich, Whelan, Kurmasheva, and Kara-Murza.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that he could confirm there was no money exchanged or sanctions loosened to facilitate the prisoner swap. He said the freed Americans would arrive back in the country later on Thursday.