Emotional photos show moments Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan are reunited with loved ones on American soil after being freed from Russian detainment

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were welcomed back to the United States with open arms late Thursday night after they were freed from Russian detainment in a historic prisoner swap.

The pair were among two dozen people set free, including Russian American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. American green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza was also released in the exchange.

Photos and videos show the joyful reunions on U.S. soil on Thursday night. Gershkovich, who was convicted in July on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison, embraced President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — and his mom, to whom he gave a jubilant hug, lifting her in the air.

Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who holds U.S., Canadian, British and Irish citizenships and who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in a remote prison labor camp for alleged espionage, saluted Biden as he walked down the stairs of the plane.

Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe, was seen embracing loved ones. She was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military. Her family and employer rejected these accusations.

U.S. officials have vehemently denied that Gershkovich and Whelan were spying on behalf of the country. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called Gershkovich’s recent rushed trial a “sham.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. pushed for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be freed in the exchange, but he died in February under mysterious circumstances.

Biden called the prisoner swap a “feat of diplomacy,” and said Russia had released 16 prisoners, including five Germans, seven Russians who were “political prisoners in their own country,” along with the three American citizens and American green-card holder.

In exchange, eight Russians who were being held in the West will be sent home, Biden said.

“Deals like this one come with tough calls,” Biden added. “There’s nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.”