Prague-Based Journalist Kurmasheva Released from Russian Custody

After more than nine months in prison, American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva has been released as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.

The deal included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained by the Kremlin for 16 months, and former US Marine Paul Whelan, following the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Kurmasheva, a mother of two, was detained by the Russian authorities on a visit to her parents last October and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail for failing to register as a foreign agent.

She was eventually fined 10,000 rubles ($103) for failure to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities. However, before she could pay the fine, she was detained again on Oct. 18, 2023.

In December, Russian authorities launched a third investigation against her for “spreading false information” about Russia’s military. She was convicted following a “rapid and secret trial” that lasted only two days, according to the Associated Press.

Her husband Pavel Butorin previously said she was arrested over a book published last year, which was a collection of stories about Russians opposed to the war in Ukraine.

Kurmasheva landed back on U.S. soil at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C., late Thursday evening.

She was greeted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before being hugged by her husband and two daughters.

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