The swap happened despite strained relations between Washington and Moscow, worsened by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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00:00This is the moment three American freed prisoners landed back on U.S. soil as President Joe
00:08Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris waited to welcome them on the tarmac. It was hugs
00:14and tears that could be seen as Moscow released former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street
00:20journal reporter Evan Jerkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmashva.
00:36Meanwhile images emerged of Russian opposition activists freed safely back in Germany. In
00:43Russia, President Vladimir Putin welcomed home eight Russian prisoners who have been
00:48released from prisons across the U.S., Norway, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
01:19Twenty-four people were released from both sides in what was the biggest prisoner exchange
01:24between Russia and the West since the Cold War.