WASHINGTON —
When it comes to hostile governments jailing journalists, happy endings are few and far between.
That's what made last week's historic prisoner swap between the United States and Russia so welcome for the press freedom community. Included among the 16 political prisoners freed from Russian custody were the wrongfully detained American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva.
On Aug. 1, just hours before the journalists were expected to land at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, Kurmasheva's husband, Pavel Butorin, and the couple's teenage daughters Bibi and Miriam, spoke with VOA at 's Washington office.
"We've learned to keep our emotions and expectations in check. Even now, still, I'll believe it when I see her and when we hug her," Butorin said, sitting at a conference table.
It was my latest of several interviews with Butorin over the months since his wife's arrest in Russia, but already he seemed happier, lighter.
Butorin isn't the saccharine type, but the journalist's voice cracked when he spoke about the support for Kurmasheva and their family. "If anything brings a tear to my eye, I think it's that," he said.
The couple's daughters were sitting on a nearby couch. Bibi, the eldest at 16, futzed with the paper she had peeled off a water bottle. She spoke about the private tour President Joe Biden personally gave the families earlier that day.
"The White House was really cool," she said. But talking with her mom on the phone in the Oval Office was even better. "It was really nice to hear her voice and to hear that she's doing well," she said.
Butorin and Miriam laughed, saying they could barely remember what they spoke about with Kurmasheva because they were so overwhelmed.
But it didn't really matter, because later that humid day, not long after 11:30 p.m., a Bombardier jet landed outside Washington from Ankara, Turkey.
On board were Kurmasheva, who works at VOA's sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague; Gershkovich, who works at ; and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine. Russia had jailed all three on charges that are widely viewed as baseless and politically motivated.
Dozens of journalists — plus Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and a flock of White House staffers — watched as Whelan descended the plane's steps, followed by Gershkovich, and finally Kurmasheva. It felt as if everyone watching held their breath in the moments between the plane door opening and the Americans walking out, one by one.
Each first spoke with Biden and Harris, then turned to their waiting families. Gershkovich embraced his mother. But that wasn't enough, so he lifted her off her feet.
Kurmasheva was next. Under a pitch-black sky and floodlights, she and her daughters ran across the tarmac to meet one another.
They had not embraced in more than a year. It was a period that weighed heavily on this tightly knit family.
The release of the Americans was a long time coming.
I started reporting on Gershkovich's case when he was arrested in March 2023 and falsely accused of espionage. I began covering Kurmasheva's case after Russian authorities detained her in October 2023, also on bogus charges.
Mornings often began with a quick internet search of their names for any developments in Russia while I was asleep. As VOA covered the court hearings, inevitable extensions of pre-trial detentions, and milestones marked in custody, I spoke regularly with those connected to the case, including Butorin and Paul Beckett, the Journal editor who led the newspaper's campaign to free Gershkovich.
Beckett had never met Gershkovich. When we spoke a few hours after the swap was confirmed, he was excited that the long-awaited meeting was close.
"Joy, gratitude, tears, smiles — everything at once," Beckett said. "I'm going to say [to Evan], 'Nice to meet you.'"
had rapidly concluded after Gershkovich's case and then Kurmasheva's were fast-tracked to convictions that both took place on July 19, in closed-door hearings.
For those watching, it seemed that a prisoner swap was imminent. Moscow had previously indicated it would be willing to exchange Gershkovich only after a conviction.
On Monday, July 29, VOA learned that a prisoner swap would likely take place that Thursday and would involve multiple political prisoners.
But everything was tightly under wraps and tinged with uncertainty. The full scope came into focus in the coming days.
Belarus, a close Russian ally, unexpectedly pardoned a German sentenced to death on terrorism charges. Then Slovenia announced the deportations of two Russians who were convicted of spying.