It was an emotional scene at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland just before midnight Thursday as three American citizens arrived back in the U.S., part of a complex prisoner swap involving more than seven countries.
Among them was New Jersey native and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who spent 491 days in Russian detention, falsely accused and convicted of espionage by Russian authorities. The two other Americans released were retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met the three when they stepped off the plane as family members were there to greet the returned prisoners.
Watching from home were two of Evan Gershkovich’s closest friends.
“I was smiling from ear to ear. I think elation was the emotion that we felt the most. And also some tears. … Seeing him get off the flight, embrace the vice president, and then like literally sweep his mom off [her] feet, was a fantastic moment. And I’ll relive that for the rest of my life,” said Jeremy Berke, a friend of Gershkovich.
“We don’t want to assume too much about his state, but I think it’s a great sign that he’s basically already talking about a story, talking about reporting again about Russia, about these political prisoners that he wants to share their story. What he was saying is that no one knows about them, no one’s talking about them and we should be talking about them,” said Michael Van Itallie, another friend of Gershkovich.
