Biden, Harris greet Michigan's Paul Whelan on U.S. soil following historic prisoner swap

After more than five years in Russian captivity, Michigan's Paul Whelan is back in the United States.

The wheels of a sleek, silver jet with a single red stripe touched down at 11:37 p.m. Thursday at Joint Base Andrews near Washington D.C., carrying Whelan, 54, of Novi, along with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who also had been held by Russia.

It slowed to a stop at 11:43 p.m., and President Joe Biden, who personally intervened in the long months it took to negotiate a multicountry prisoner swap involving some two dozen people, walked side by side with Vice President Kamala Harris to greet the passengers.

Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, followed directly behind them, trailed by Gershkovich’s parents and Kurmasheva’s family.

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Whelan was the first to step off the aircraft, meeting applause.

He shook Biden’s hand and gave him a hug, asking, "How you doing, sir?" and then did the same with Harris before walking toward his sister, Elizabeth Whelan, for a long embrace.

"It feels wonderful," Biden told reporters who asked how he felt a short time later, standing nearby as the families hugged and mingled. "It was a long time coming."

"I meant what I said (earlier in the day), alliances make a difference, (allies) stepped up and took a chance for us." Biden's negotiators worked with a team of other countries, including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey to arrange a swap of some two dozen prisoners, including the three Americans.

It was considered the biggest, most complicated prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War.

Speaking to reporters briefly after being greeted by Biden and Harris, Whelan said, "thank you very much," to all the people who played a part in his release.

And when asked how he managed to cope during his more than five years and seven months in Russian detention, Whelan said: "I'm resilient. It's my Irish background. You have to be a little tenacious with these people, but you do it day by day. Every day, I sung the national anthems of my four countries. I did it one step at a time."

Whelan, who was born in Ottawa, Ontario, holds passports in the U.S., Canada, Britain and Ireland. His parents, Edward and Rosemary Whelan, immigrated to Canada from Britain. The family moved to Ann Arbor when Whelan was a small child, and he graduated in Huron High School's class of 1988. He got Irish citizenship from his grandparents.

Whelan is a former Marine and was the head of global security for BorgWarner before his arrest in December 2018 in Moscow. He was charged with espionage while visiting Russia for a friend's wedding. His family and the U.S. government have maintained the charges were false.

Next off the plane after Whelan on Thursday night was Gershkovich, who had been detained in Russia since March 2023, and who waved to the crowd gathered to greet him as he came down the steps. He hugged Biden and Harris before he trained his eyes on his waiting parents.

He lifted his mother into the air as they hugged for the first time in more than a year.

Last off the plane was Kurmasheva, a journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship. She had been detained since October of last year.

She held the hands of the president and vice president, speaking with them for a few minutes before running into the arms of her daughters and husband.

One of her daughters, Miriam, will be 13 years old on Friday. On the tarmac, as Biden wished her happy birthday, Miriam ran to her mother, crying, saying, "I love you so much, I can't believe you're here."

After the other reunions, Whelan returned to Biden, who spoke with him a little longer before taking off the American flag pin on his lapel and giving it to Whelan, who swiftly put it on the collar of his shirt.

Kurmasheva’s husband wore a USA T-shirt and an enormous smile. He lifted his arms into the air, posing for the cameras with his newly reunited family.

Biden felt so invigorated by the event he jogged over to other reporters to answer some more questions.

Whelan said he felt pretty good — even after the long day of travel from Russia to Turkey and then to the U.S. He wasn't ready to celebrate his freedom, he said, until the plane had reached British airspace, where he finally felt safe.

It was not immediately known when Whelan would return to Michigan. His parents live in Manchester, southwest of Ann Arbor. He said only that he was headed next to Texas.

And now that he's back on American soil, Whelan said one of the first things he'd like to do is get a steak.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Paul Whelan back in U.S. after historic prisoner swap