Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva reflects on life nearly 1 month since prisoner swap: "I didn't believe it was real until I hugged my children."
Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva says she was fantasizing about the moment she would once again step foot on American soil and hug her family from the moment she was arrested in October 2023.
Earlier this month, after a historically complex and monthslong negotiation that involved six countries, Kurmasheva was among the three American citizens released from Russian prison. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were the other two Americans released in a prisoner swap.
"It was a Saturday morning. I was told to pack my belongings in 15 minutes and be out," she told CBS Mornings on Friday, recalling the days leading up to her return to the U.S. "And they took me to a high-security prison in Moscow and I didn't even know how long I would stay there."
"I was scared. I felt happy. I knew it was coming but still, I didn't believe it was real until I hugged my children," she added.
Kurmasheva, an editor for Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty, was detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Russia accused Kurmasheva of collecting information about Russia's military activities "in order to transmit information to foreign sources," suggesting she received information about university teachers who were mobilized into the Russian army. She was sentenced to 6½ years in prison after a secret trial in July.
On Aug. 1, Kurmasheva, Gershkovich and Whelan landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after they were freed as part of the prisoner swap that also involved Germany, Solvenia, Poland and Norway.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic, was also released but opted to go to Germany, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. The prisoners were traded on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey.
"(Russia) is still a beautiful country, full of beautiful people, especially young people who are open-minded. Unfortunately, the country is going through some difficult times right now," Kurmasheva said of the Russia she experienced before her arrest. "They don't have access to free and independent news and information and they're struggling. There is a deep uncertainty about the future and that overwhelming sense of fear is taking over. People are afraid to talk to their neighbors, to their friends and family – that was my sense."
Now, nearly a month after her return home, Kurmasheva is readjusting and spending time with her family.
"I'm enjoying a bite of toast with avocado and eggs – something we cherish every morning in a free world…," she said. "Most importantly, I'm with my family, with my children, with my husband and that's the most important thing."
Kurmasheva's husband, Pavel Butorin, told CBS Mornings during the 10 months without his "best friend of more than 20 years" he always asked himself if he was doing enough to bring her back.
"Luckily I had the support of the U.S. government, I was backed by an incredible advocacy team … we built a coalition that helped us exert pressure on the U.S. government to make sure Alsu was part of the negotiations with the Russians," he said. "We are overjoyed to have Alsu with us. For my children who are growing up in the free world, it was wild to know that their mother was kept in a Russian prison only because she was an American journalist. We are happy to have her back in the free world where she can say and publish whatever she wants."