Former US Marine Paul Whelan revealed the moment his newfound freedom from a Russian prison felt “real” — as he joked that he was ready to indulge in some “medicinal” alcohol now that he was back on US soil.
Whelan, 54, disembarked at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field in Texas around 3 a.m. Friday with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, 32, and radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, KSAT reported.
The trio and their families were accompanied by US hostage envoy Roger Carstens, who walked them through the reintegration process, CNN said. That will include various examinations at a state-of-the-art Department of Defense hospital in Houston.
“It didn’t feel real until we were flying over England,” Whelan said of his release as part of the multi-country historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West on Thursday.
Whelan was arrested in Moscow on suspicion of spying in late December 2018. He was found guilty in a closed-doors trial and spent nearly six years in a remote penal colony.
“As we came over England and I looked down, that’s when it became real,” Whelan said of his first hours of freedom.
Born in Ottawa to British parents with Irish backgrounds, Whelan has Canadian, US, British and Irish citizenship.
Whelan credited his family’s frequent “harsh words” for the government for “having kept them accountable for taking care of us.”
Here’s the latest on former Russian prisoner Evan Gershkovich
- Who is Evan Gershkovich, WSJ reporter freed in Russian prisoner swap?
- First photo shows smiling Evan Gershkovich with Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva since they were freed in prisoner swap
- President Biden delivers first remarks since Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and other US captives freed: ‘Their brutal ordeal is over’
- Russia frees American journalist Evan Gershkovich in prisoner swap after 16 months behind bars
- Russia sentences Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in sham trial: ‘An outrage’
“Getting off the plane and seeing the president, the vice president, that was nice. It was a good homecoming,” he added of his first moments on US soil at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
The security executive – who once begged President Biden to “man up” and secure his release – showed off the flag lapel pin given to him by the president, which he described as a “keepsake.”
He was excited to point out a box holding an iPad, noting that the Russian Federal Security Service stole his “iPad and iPhone, so this is a replacement so I can be normal again.”
The former Marine also held up a bag with a bottle of alcohol, which he joked was for “medicinal purposes.”
Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and their loved ones posed for photos at the joint base with the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag.
“This is us down here. Those last three, that’s us,” Whelan said, pointing to the final three tally marks on the flag.
After the photo-op, Whelan, Gershkovich, and Kurmasheva were to undergo medical evaluations at Brooke Army Medical Center, Carstens explained.
“So great to welcome you here at the joint base. The next phase of your journey begins now,” Carstens told the group.
It is standard US government procedure for former prisoners of war, hostages, and others released from foreign detention to be seen at the military hospital for counseling and recovery, the San Antonio-Express News reported.
Former captives who went through the reintegration program include Paul Rusesabagina, who was imprisoned by the Rwandan government for over two years, Pvt. Travis King, who was held in North Korea, and WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was also released from Russia in 2022.
A total of 24 prisoners were exchanged in Thursday’s swap, which was the largest multi-country prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
Gershkovich spent 16 months behind bars in Russia, where he was arrested for alleged espionage during a reporting trip in March 2023. Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in October 2023 for failing to register as a foreign agent.