There were emotional scenes of joy and gratitude as the Americans released by Russia in a historic prisoner exchange arrived home. They were welcomed by loved ones as well as President Biden and Vice President Harris. Businessman Paul Whelan accepted an American flag pin from the president. NBC News' Gabe Gutierrez reports.
As he stood on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews late Thursday night, Pavel Butorin was in disbelief. Days before, his wife of two decades — Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — had been sentenced to 6½ years in a Russian prison for spreading false information about the country’s military, a conviction press freedom and human rights groups denounced as politically-motivated. Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.
“I thought, why would they invite us to the White House with bad news?” he said. The phone call at the Oval Office between the freed prisoners and their families that followed was a “total surprise,” he said. In a video of the call that President Joe Biden posted to X, the couple's other daughter, 16-year-old Bibi, can be heard telling her mother where they are and laughing. “Guys, I love you,” Kurmasheva says.
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