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washington — American permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza told reporters on Friday he had expected to die in a Russian prison.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, who had been serving a 25-year prison sentence following a 2022 arrest, was freed Thursday in a historic prisoner swap negotiated by the U.S. and its allies with Russia.

Kara-Murza spoke to the media in Bonn, Germany, with two of the seven Russians — Ilya Yashin and Andrei Pivovarov — also freed in the deal.

At the briefing, he detailed the harsh conditions he was subjected to, including 10 months in solitary confinement, and restricted contact with family. He said Russia allowed him only one call to his wife and two with his children in the entire time of his nearly two years in detention.

Kara-Murza said Germany’s decision to release a high-profile assassin — Vadim Krasikov — as part of the exchange “wasn’t an easy decision.”

Pivovarov, who headed the opposition group Open Russia, said the historic deal saved the lives of some of those detained. And he drew a sharp distinction between everyday Russians and the authoritarian regime.

“It is wrong to associate Russian people with the government’s policies,” said Pivovarov, adding that their task was to work to make Russia “free and democratic.”

Yashin, a Russian activist jailed for supporting the war in Ukraine, said he had not wanted to be deported in any swap. He said he feared the action could encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to take more “political prisoners.”

“I did not give my consent to being sent outside of Russia,” he told reporters in Bonn. “What happened on August 1 is not an exchange. This is my expulsion from Russia against my will. My first wish in Ankara was to buy a ticket and go back to Russia.”

Yashin said a Federal Security Service agent told him that if he returned “your days will end like Navalny’s.” Alexey Navalny died in a remote prison colony before any deal to secure his release could be made.

Yashin on Friday said Putin bears the responsibility for that death.

Kara-Murza was convicted of treason for his speeches against Russia’s war in Ukraine, including one made to the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2018 he was a pallbearer at Senator John McCain’s funeral alongside U.S. President Joe Biden.

In total, seven Russian political prisoners were freed and removed from Russia in the deal, along with five Germans, three American citizens and green card holder Kara-Murza.

‘They stepped up’

President Biden greeted the Americans — journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and former Marine Paul Wheelan — as they arrived at Joint Base Andrews late Thursday.

Speaking with the gathered media, Biden praised the partnership with U.S. allies, saying, “They stepped up, they took a chance for us, and it mattered a lot.”

Those allies — Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia  helped the U.S. with the never-before-seen multi-country negotiations that played out over months to secure the largest swap with Russia since the Cold War.

“The toughest call in this one was for other countries,” Biden acknowledged late Thursday as the hostages and their families hugged in the background. “I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self-interest and really very difficult for them to do, particularly Germany and Slovenia.”

Germany’s part in the deal involved handing over to Russia convicted killer Krasikov.

And Slovenia in the last part of a multipart deal had on Wednesday pardoned and expelled two Russian spies.

Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar on social media praised her country’s part in the deal.

“Slovenia and its intelligence agencies worked tirelessly and with great sensitivity with our allies and partners in prisoner exchange which successfully concluded yesterday,” she said Friday on X. “I would like to pay respect and compliment everyone involved in this difficult action that saved lives.”

‘Many had feared for their health’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday said he had spoken at length with those freed from Russian prisons who traveled to Germany.

“Many did not expect this to happen now and are still very full of the feelings associated with suddenly being able to be free after all,” he told reporters. “Many had feared for their health and even their lives.”

Germany held the primary person the Kremlin wanted in the deal.

That convicted killer, Krasikov, and six other Russians were welcomed back by Putin in a scene that mirrored that at Andrews air base.

But while the West welcomed home political prisoners — journalists, opposition voices and activists — taken by Russia, Putin greeted convicted killers and spies.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Paris — The United States was eliminated from the Olympic men’s soccer tournament on Friday after a 4-0 loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals.

Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach, Achraf Hakimi and Mehdi Maouhoub scored the goals at Parc des Princes that ended U.S. hopes of a medal at the Paris Games.

Morocco, which enjoyed fervent support in the French capital, will play the winner of Japan vs. Spain in the semifinals in Marseille on Monday.

The U.S. qualified for the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since Sydney 2000 but was outclassed by a polished Morocco team that had already beaten Argentina in the group stage.

Rahimi scored a penalty in the 29th minute and Akhomach doubled the lead in the 63rd.

Hakimi rolled in the third after a solo run in the 70th.

Maouhoub, a substitute, finished off the rout with a penalty in second-half stoppage time.

In front of a packed crowd at the home of Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco dominated the chances in the first half, but needed a penalty to find a breakthrough after Nathan Harriel fouled Rahimi in the box.

Despite protests from the American players, referee Yael Falcón Pérez pointed to the spot and Rahimi fired low to the left and beyond the dive of Patrick Schulte.

Miles Robinson had a golden chance to level the game in the 59th when collecting a knockdown from about six yards out, but shot wide.

That miss proved even more costly when Morocco extended its lead four minutes later through Akhomach, who slotted past Schulte from close range after Abde Ezzalzouli’s cross.

Hakimi, who plays his club soccer for PSG, added a third shortly after — carrying the ball to the edge of the box before firing into the bottom right hand corner.

Morocco made it 4-0 in stoppage time when Harriel handled in the box and, after a VAR review, a second penalty was awarded and Maouhoub converted.
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New York ranks fourth in the nation for human trafficking cases, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. And authorities say the numbers have grown with the recent increase in undocumented migrants in the city. VOA’s Aunshuman Apte spoke with a woman who lived through the experience and now advocates for trafficking victims.
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PARIS — The stands at Champs de Mars filled up quickly. One fan dressed in a white martial arts uniform waved a French flag back and forth. A woman next to him held up a poster with the face of one of the biggest sports stars in France. Crowds of people bounced up and down so excitedly it shook the floor of the arena, where judo is being played in the 2024 Paris Olympics.  

Many of them were there to see Teddy Riner, the hometown judo icon who delivered once again for France on Friday. He capped his incredible career by becoming the second three-time individual Olympic gold medalist in judo history in one of the most electrifying events of the Paris Games so far. The 35-year-old heavyweight defeated Korea’s Min-jong Kim for the gold in his fifth Olympics.  

An 11-time world champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist, Riner is one of the most popular and beloved figures in any sport from France.  

Riner was France’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony and joined retired French track and field sprinter Marie-José Pérec in lighting the cauldron at the end of the night.   

Riner is widely considered the greatest judoka the sport has ever seen. He had a 10-year unbeaten streak in which he dominated opponents with his imposing size and athleticism.  

Riner had the opportunity to match Olympic history with three gold medals three years ago in Tokyo but that chance evaporated with a surprising loss to Russian Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarterfinals. Riner rallied for a bronze medal and still took home gold in the mixed team event. He turned that moment of disappointment into hope for the future, with his next opportunity only three years away.  

With a first-round bye, Riner rolled through the second round and quarterfinals Friday afternoon, setting up a much-anticipated semifinal against Temur Rakhimov of Tajikistan.  

He drew the loudest cheers from the crowd at Champs de Mars, which roared when he walked onto the red-and-yellow tatami, and cheered even louder when he finished Rakhimov with an ippon that secured his spot in the final.  

Riner joins a trio of French stars at the home Olympics. Basketball phenom Victor Wembanyama is the leader of the country’s men’s basketball team that is hoping to challenge the defending champion United States for gold. Léon Marchand has dominated in the pool with three gold medals.  

France, one of the world’s top judo nations, still has the mixed team competition on Saturday, looking for its second straight gold in the event after defeating rival Japan to win its first mixed team tournament in Tokyo.  

The French judo team was already off to a hot start. Luka Mkheidze and Shirine Boukli won France’s first two medals of the Paris Olympics last weekend, with Mkheidze claiming silver and Boukli winning bronze.  

After another masterful ippon in the final, Riner shook his head in triumph. The crowd chanted his name. He fell to his knees with his arms stretched wide above him, ending the night where he’s been so many times before. On top.
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CHICO, California — Firefighters battling California’s largest wildfire of the year are preparing for treacherous conditions entering the weekend when expected thunderstorms may unleash fire-starting lightning and erratic winds that could erode progress made over the past week. Dry, hot conditions posed similar threats across the fire-stricken West.   

Weather, fuels and terrain will pose challenges for the 6,000 firefighters battling the Park Fire, which has spread over 614 square miles (1,590 square kilometers) since allegedly being started by arson in a wilderness park in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley city of Chico.  

The fire’s push northward has brought it toward the rugged lava rock landscape surrounding Lassen Volcanic National Park, which has been closed due to the threat.  

“Lava rocks make for hard and slow work for hand crews,” Cal Fire said in a situation report. “Crews are being flown into access areas that have been hard to reach because of long drive times and steep, rugged terrain.”  

After days of benign weather, increasing winds and a surge of monsoonal moisture were expected to increase fire activity and bring a chance of thunderstorms Friday night into Saturday, said Ryan Walbrun, incident meteorologist with the National Weather Service.  

“The concern with thunderstorms is any gusty outflow winds that would push the fire itself or create some new fire ignitions within the vicinity of the Park Fire,” Walbrun said. 

Collapse of thunderstorm clouds can blow wind in any and all directions, said Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire.  

“Even if there’s not lightning per se, it is very much a safety-watch-out environment for our firefighters out there,” Pangburn said. 

Walbrun said there was little prospect of beneficial rains from the storms and the forecast for next week calls for continued warming and drying.  

“As we look forward in time, we’re really just entering the peak of fire season in California,” he said.  

The Park Fire, which has destroyed at least 480 structures and damaged 47, is one of almost 100 large fires burning across the western U.S.   

A wildfire on the edge of metro Denver crept within a quarter-mile of evacuated homes, but authorities said Thursday they were hopeful that hundreds of threatened residences could be saved despite sweltering temperatures and firefighters suffering heat exhaustion.  

The Quarry Fire southwest of the Denver suburb of Littleton encroached on several large subdivisions. Neighborhoods with nearly 600 homes were ordered to evacuate after the fire, of unknown origin, spread quickly Tuesday afternoon and overnight when relatively few firefighters were yet on the scene. 

Jim and Meg Lutes watched from an overlook near their house northeast of the fire as smoke plumed up from the ridges. Their community west of Littleton was not yet under evacuation orders, but the couple had been ready to start packing a day earlier when flames could be seen blanketing the mountains.   

“It can come over that hill pretty quick if the wind changes,” said Jim Lutes, 64, pointing to a nearby ridge.  

Five firefighters were injured Wednesday, including four who had heat exhaustion, said Mark Techmeyer, a spokesperson with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.  

The fire was in steep terrain that made it difficult to access but had been held to about a half-square mile (1.4 square kilometers) with no houses yet destroyed, authorities said.  

Miles to the north near the city of Lyons, Colorado, officials lifted some evacuations and reported making progress on the Stone Canyon Fire. It has killed one person and destroyed five houses. The cause was under investigation. 

The fire was among several threatening heavily populated areas of the Colorado foothills, including one in which a person was killed earlier this week.  

New, large fires were reported in Idaho, southeastern Montana and north Texas.  

Scientists say extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the U.S. West and other parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and droughts become more severe.
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LONDON — Several suspects arrested in violent protests that erupted after the fatal stabbing of three children in northwest England were due in court Friday as officials braced for more clashes that Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned and blamed on “far-right hatred.”

Starmer vowed to end the mayhem and said police across the United Kingdom would be given more resources to stop “a breakdown in law and order on our streets.”

Demonstrations are being promoted online over the coming days in towns and cities that include Sunderland, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, using phrases such as “enough is enough,” “save our kids” and “stop the boats.”

John Woodcock, the British government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, said there was a “concerted and coordinated” attempt to spread the violence.

“Clearly, some of those far-right actors have got a taste for this and are trying to provoke similar in towns and cities across the U.K.,” he told the BBC.

The attack Monday on children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class shocked a country where knife crime is a long-standing and vexing problem, although mass stabbings are rare.

Seventeen-year-old Axel Rudakubana was charged with murder over the attack that killed Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England. He was also charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight children and two adults wounded.

A violent demonstration in Southport on Tuesday was followed by others around the country — fueled in part by online misinformation that said the attacker was Muslim and an immigrant. Rudakubana was born in Britain to Rwandan parents and lived close to the scene of the attack.

Suspects who are under 18 are usually not named in the U.K., but judge Andrew Menary ordered that Rudakubana could be identified, in part to stop the spread of misinformation.

Far-right demonstrators have held several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and hurling beer cans, bottles and flares near the prime minister’s office in London the next day.

Merseyside Police, which is responsible for Southport, said it had made seven arrests so far and had a team of specialists reviewing hundreds of hours of footage to identify anyone involved.

“If you took part in this disorder, you can expect to receive a knock on your door by our officers,” Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts said.

Police officers were pelted with bottles and eggs in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, where a police car was set ablaze. Seven men ages 28 to 54 were charged with violent disorder and were due in court Friday, the local Cleveland Police force said.

At a news conference Thursday, the prime minister said the street violence was “clearly driven by far-right hatred” as he announced a program enabling police to better share intelligence across agencies and move quickly to make arrests.

“This is coordinated; this is deliberate,” Starmer said. “This is not a protest that has got out of hand. It is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence.”

Starmer said his so-called National Violent Disorder Program would enable police to move between communities — just as the “marauding mobs” do. Officers will harness facial recognition technology to identify culprits and use criminal behavior orders often imposed on soccer hooligans that prevent them from going to certain places or associating with one another.

Starmer put some of the blame on social media companies, although he didn’t announce any measures to address that and said there was a balance to be struck between the value they offer and the threat they can pose.

“Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime. It’s happening on your premises,” he said.
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Washington — U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in July, while the unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, which could heighten fears that the labor market is deteriorating and potentially making the economy vulnerable to a recession. 

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 114,000 jobs last month after rising by a downwardly revised 179,000 in June, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. 

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 175,000 jobs after a previously reported 206,000 gain in June. Estimates ranged from 70,000 to 225,000. 

Hurricane Beryl, which knocked out power in Texas and slammed parts of Louisiana during the payrolls survey week, likely contributed to the below-expectations payrolls gain. 

The labor market is slowing, driven by low hiring, rather than layoffs, as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 dampen demand. Government data this week showed hires dropped to a four-year low in June. 

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% last month after climbing 0.3% in June. In the 12 months through July, wages increased 3.6%. That was the smallest year-on-year gain since May 2021 and followed a 3.8% advance in June. 

Though wage growth remains above the 3%-3.5% range seen as consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target, it extended the run of inflation-friendly data. The employment report sealed the case for a September rate cut from the U.S. central bank. 

The rise in the unemployment rate from 4.1% in June marked the fourth straight monthly increase. That could escalate fears over the durability of the economic expansion. 

 
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KYIV — A Russian drone hit a bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region early on Friday, injuring six construction workers, including one who was in a critical condition, the regional governor said.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the incident took place near the town of Derhachi, about 40 km (25 miles) from Hlyboke one of the border settlements where Russia opened a new front in the war in May.

Ukraine’s military halted the Russian offensive there, rushing in reinforcements after Russia pushed up to 10 km (six miles) into the border areas.

Thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine February 2022.

 
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Three Americans unjustly detained in Russia stepped foot on U.S. soil again late Thursday. Waiting for them, President Joe Biden and their loved ones. VOA’s Jessica Jerreat reports.
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which regulates the internet, announced the block early Friday but did not provide a reason. Sabah newspaper, which is close to the government, said access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hama political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

It came days after Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director and aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticized the Meta-owned platform for preventing users in Turkey from posting messages of condolences for Haniyeh.

Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Erdogan has described the group as “liberation fighters.”

The country is observing a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday, during which flags will be flown at half-staff.

Turkey has a track record of censoring social media and websites. Hundreds of thousands of domains have been blocked since 2022, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, a nonprofit organization regrouping lawyers and human rights activists. The video-sharing platform YouTube was blocked from 2007 to 2010.
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Americans Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and others are freed from Russian prisons in a deal involving 16 political prisoners exchanged for eight individuals requested by the Kremlin. With Liam Scott and Cristina Caicedo Smit, Jessica Jerreat reports. Patsy Widakuswara contributed. Cameras: Martin Bubenik, Krystof Maixner, Hoshang Fahim.
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washington — The realignment of the United States armed forces in Japan, announced on the heels of the latest U.S.-Japan security talks, will focus on developing warfighting capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region, former U.S. military officials and experts say.

During a meeting of the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo on Sunday, the two nations agreed to upgrade the command and control of the U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ), converting the current USFJ structure into a joint force headquarters.

The new headquarters will be given “expanded missions and operational responsibilities,” according to a statement released after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara.

Jerry Martinez, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general who served as the USFJ commander from 2016 to 2019, said this move is “a gigantic step forward” for the United States, Japan and the alliance at large.

“This action signals the high regard in which both countries view the alliance, as well as the need to ensure Japan is always ready to withstand any threats in the region,” Martinez told VOA Korean via email on Wednesday.

“It sends a strong signal to potential threats that Japan as a whole is trained, prepared and operationally ready to meet any challenges,” he said.

Harry Harris, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea during the Trump administration, told VOA Korean in an email on Tuesday that the USFJ headquarters will take on more operational command responsibilities.

“It greatly expands the heretofore limited role of the existing USFJ,” said Harris, who was also commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from 2015 to 2018.

“USFJ was not responsible for joint war planning,” he said, adding that the move to set up a new headquarters recognizes “the importance in Japan of effective joint planning between the U.S. and Japan.”

The reconstitution of American forces stationed in Japan, scheduled for March 2025, is widely seen as the most substantial transformation since its establishment in 1957.

“This will be the most significant change to U.S. Forces Japan since its creation and one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years,” Austin said in a press conference Sunday in Tokyo.

According to experts in Washington, the changes are aimed at giving USFJ an actual warfighting command, which has, up to now, been largely assumed by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, headquartered in Hawaii.

“It was more of a command that focused on kind of day-to-day management of resources in Japan,” Robert Peters, research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA Korean by phone on Wednesday.

“USFJ is going to have more responsibilities and more capabilities, so they’re going to be able to make their own decisions when a war breaks out,” he said.

Peters, who served as a special adviser in the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the Obama administration, said the new USFJ will be “more relevant to the warfighting.”

James Przystup, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair, told VOA Korean via email on Tuesday that the focus of the new joint command will be the closer operational integration of U.S. military assets, which encompass elements of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.

“USFJ as it stands today serves an administrative function,” Przystup said. “Establishing a joint force headquarters provides for the closer operational integration of U.S. forces deployed in Japan.”

According to the joint statement of the Security Consultative Committee on Sunday, the new U.S. joint force headquarters will serve as a counterpart to Japan’s Joint Operations Command, facilitating deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations.

The USFJ’s cooperation with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) is expected to take a form different from the Combined Forces Command in South Korea, a joint warfighting headquarters consisting of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and the South Korean military.

Retired U.S. Army General Robert Abrams, who served as the commander of the USFK from 2018 to 2021, told VOA Korean in an email on Wednesday that the USFJ and JSDF are completely separate.

“There is no mention of the newly converted USFJ headquarters becoming a combined command or implying that this USFJ headquarters would have operational control of Japanese Self-Defense Forces,” Abrams said. “Japan’s minister of defense made clear that there was no plan to put JSDF under U.S. command.”

Przystup said the new USFJ Joint Forces Command, along with Japan’s own Joint Operations Command, will facilitate closer U.S.-Japan defense cooperation in dealing with security challenges posed by China as well as North Korea, “in particular with respect to operational integration of Japan’s counterstrike capability within the alliance, thus enhancing alliance-based deterrence.”

While Austin stressed during the Sunday press conference that “our decision to move in this direction is not based upon any threat from China,” the U.S. and Japan made it clear that China’s external stance and military actions pose a serious concern.

In response to an inquiry from VOA Korean, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Tuesday that China is not a threat to global stability and peace.

“The so-called ‘China threat theory’ is groundless and should not be used as an excuse for military expansion,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a written statement via email. “U.S.-Japan relations should not target other countries, harm their interests or undermine regional peace and stability.”
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In a U.S. election season that has been filled with unexpected twists and turns, social media users have responded in kind … with coconuts and cat ladies. VOA’s Tina Trinh explains.
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moscow — President Vladimir Putin gave Russian nationals freed in a historic prisoner exchange with the West a hero’s welcome on Thursday as they stepped off a plane in Moscow, promising them state awards and a conversation about their futures. 

Eight people were returned to Russia as part of the biggest East-West prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, including Vadim Krasikov, a hitman convicted by a German court of killing a former Chechen militant in a Berlin park, and two men convicted of cybercrimes in the United States, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznyov. 

Among those Moscow also got back: a Russian family, the Dultsevs, including their two children, whom a court in Slovenia convicted of pretending to be Argentinians in order to spy on the EU and NATO member state. The couple are thought to be “illegals” — deep-cover agents trained to impersonate foreigners, who spend years living abroad in their cover identities. 

In return, U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were among those released by Moscow in a complex deal negotiated in secrecy for more than a year. 

Putin, a former KGB officer and ex-head of Russia’s FSB security service, met the eight returnees at a Moscow airport and hugged them or shook their hands, giving some of them bouquets of flowers as they came off the plane onto a red carpet flanked by a Kremlin honor guard. 

The first to disembark, wearing a baseball cap and a track suit top, was Krasikov, the hitman, whom Putin hugged. 

Inside the airport building, Putin, who looked visibly pleased, told the returnees: 

“First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on your return to the Motherland. Now I would like to address those of you who have a direct connection to military service. I want to thank you for your loyalty to your oath and your duty to your Motherland, which has never forgotten you for a moment. 

“All of you will be presented with state awards. I will see you again – we will talk about your future.”  

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the domestic FSB intelligence service; Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the SVR foreign intelligence service; and Defense Minister Andrei Belousov were also at the airport to welcome the group. 

Earlier on Thursday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the prisoner exchange, said that traitors to his country should rot and die in prison, but that it was more useful for Moscow to get its own people home. 

“And let the traitors now feverishly adopt new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programs,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
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Washington — The U.S. on Thursday confirmed a historic prisoner swap with Russia that included the release of American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

In total, the U.S. secured the release of 16 individuals, including five wrongfully detained Germans and seven Russian citizens, in return for eight held in America, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia.

It marked the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the Cold War.

“Today’s exchange will be historic. Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at a briefing. “It’s the culmination of many rounds of complex, painstaking negotiations over many, many months.”

Sullivan said the deal also marks the first time so many countries and allies worked together to secure the release of wrongfully detained individuals.

Alongside the Americans, the deal secures the release of German nationals and Russian political prisoners, including Dieter Voronin, Kevin Lick, Rico Krieger, Patrick Schoebel, Herman Moyzhes, Ilya Yashin, Liliya Chanysheva, Kseniya Fadeyeva, Vadim Ostanin, Andrey Pivovarov, Oleg Orlov, and Sasha Skochilenko.

Of the Americans, the longest held was Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who was arrested in Moscow in 2018. In 2020, he was sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony on spying charges that he and the U.S. government den

Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Kurmasheva were both detained in 2023 and were convicted in separate closed trials on July 19, which were widely decried as shams.

And Kara-Murza, an activist and columnist for The Washington Post detained since April 2022, was also freed. The politician and historian won a Pulitzer for his letters written from prison.

On the Russian side, the Kremlin negotiated for the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving life in prison in Germany.

Sullivan told reporters: “It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals without an exchange that included Vadim Krasikov.”

Krasikov was convicted in the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin. He had previously been in the running to be exchanged for opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died in February 2024.

Other individuals returning to Russia include Artem Viktorovich Dultsev and Anna Valerevna Dultseva from Slovenia; Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin from Norway; Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov from Poland; and Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin and Vadim Konoshchenock from the United States.

Paul Beckett, an assistant editor at the Journal, who led the newspaper’s campaign to secure Gershkovich’s release, told VOA earlier this year that his colleague’s jailing highlights the dangers facing journalists around the world.

“It’s certainly a reminder for all of our reporters who are in dangerous places that journalism is a risky business,” Beckett said. “It is a noble and valued endeavor that some governments in the world really don’t like.”

Kurmasheva is a Prague-based editor on the Tatar-Bashkir Service of VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The dual U.S.-Russian national traveled to Russia in May of 2023 to care for her ailing mother.

When Kurmasheva tried to leave the country in June 2023, authorities confiscated her passports, and she was waiting for them to be returned when she was detained in October 2023.

Kurmasheva had not been designated by the U.S. State Department as wrongfully detained. A senior administration official told VOA, however, that Kurmasheva became part of the negotiations shortly after she was detained, and the U.S. is glad to bring her home.

A similar deal in 2022 led to American basketball player Brittney Griner being freed in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States.

Kurmasheva’s husband, Pavel Butorin, said that since her arrest, his primary concern has been the couple’s daughters.

“They’re old enough to understand the brutality of the regime that captured their mother,” he told VOA in early July at their Prague home. “We dream of our family being reunited after this ordeal.”

The couple’s eldest daughter, Bibi, said she missed the little moments with her mother, like when they blasted music together on the car ride to school in the morning.

“And on the way back home from school, she would always bring snacks, and we would always talk about our day. I really miss that,” the 16-year-old said.

Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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EAUBONNE, France — Growing up in cutthroat New York gave Lauren Scruggs the competitive mindset needed to claim an unexpected fencing silver medal on her Olympic debut in Paris.

The 21-year-old Queens native shared the podium with fellow American Lee Kiefer, who retained her Olympic title in the women’s individual foil event gold medal bout on Sunday.

“I’ve grown up in New York my whole life. It can be kind of rough sometimes,” Scruggs, the first Black American fencer to win an Olympic medal in a women’s individual event, told Reuters.

“You develop a hard shell, and in terms of how that translates to my fencing, I think it came out, that energy and that toughness.”

When Scruggs found herself neck-and-neck with then world No. 2 Arriana Errigo in the quarterfinals, she managed to score the last touch, knocking out the Italian 15-14.

“I think that was my toughest bout of the day in terms of energy, and going past my limits, and I have definitely New York to thank for that,” said Scruggs, one of the rare Black fencers at the highest level.

“Fencing is predominantly white, I think for a multitude of reasons, it’s just the history of the sport, and the lack of representation and encouragement,” she explained.

“To have this accomplishment is a big deal for me, because when I was younger I only had a few people to look up to in the sport, so to be someone that little kids now can look up to is very special to me.”

They can draw inspiration from her impressive grit, which coach Sean McClain described in the U.S. training venue in Eaubonne, in the outskirts of Paris, saying that since she was eight, Scruggs only cared about winning medals.

“And she’s maintained that distaste for losing her entire career,” he said. “I really think in an event like the Olympics, it’s more about how you compete.”

Expensive sport

Born in the U.S. to Jamaican immigrants, Scruggs grew up in Queens with her mother and grandmother.

“I was in a single-parent household early on, so my family had to basically cut some corners around here and there to support us,” said Scruggs, whose brother was the first to get into fencing and inspired her to take up the sport.

Now a college student at Harvard, where she trains every day, Scruggs had to fight to make it into a “pretty expensive” sport.

“It was not easy growing up, trying to fence while being from where I’m from, just income-wise,” she said.

“If you have the funds, it makes it a lot easier to pursue the sport and feel comfortable asking that from your family.

“But if you’re coming from a lower-income background, it might push you harder. And I think it’s what happened with me. I just wanted it more than my peers.”

On paper, Scruggs did not have a big medal chance, but she showed her mettle at the Grand Palais arena.

“Fencing skill wise, Lauren is on par with the better fencers in the world, but she’s not better than them. What made the difference was that competitiveness,” said McClain, who has also become Scruggs’ stepfather.

“That comes from my wife,” he added. “I knew it was possible, but I didn’t really think Lauren was going to win a medal in her first Olympics. But my wife did. She was like, she’d better win a medal. So that’s where it comes from — that’s the fiery spirit!”

With Kiefer and alongside teammates Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub, Scruggs will represent the U.S. against China on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the women’s foil team event.

Scruggs is aiming for gold this time and is dreaming already of qualifying for the next Games, which will take place in Los Angeles in four years’ time.

“I can’t imagine myself not fencing,” she said. “It’s not even love, it’s just a part of me. It’s connected to who I am,” she said. 
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