President Biden greets 3 American residents land after historic prisoner swap with Russia

Three wrongly imprisoned US residents have landed on American soil after a historic prisoner swap involving America and Russia.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted them as they arrive.

The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan in a multinational deal that set some two dozen people free, the White House said.

Under the deal, Russia released Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was jailed in 2023 and convicted in July of espionage charges that he and the U.S. vehemently denied and called baseless; Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed since 2018, also on espionage charges he and Washington have denied; and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.