Former Marine Paul Whelan who spent more than 2,000 days in Russian custody spoke out after a historic, multi-country prisoner swap allowed him and three other to return to the U.S.
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva deplaned shortly before 4:30 a.m. eastern at Joint Base San Antonio, as they begin their lives agaij as free men.
The three embraced one another for a photo surrounded by their loved ones and held up the Hostages and Wrongful Detainees flag.
“This is us down here,” Whelan said pointing to three slash marks on the bottom of the flag, “Those last three, that’s us.”
When they landed they would go for medical assessment while their families stayed overnight in hotels off base.
Whelan wore the American flag pin given to him by President Biden at Joint Base Andrews — “It’s a keepsake.” He also had something to say about the Russians detaining him.
“So, you know, this is how Putin runs his government. This is how Putin runs his country. Yeah, I’m glad I’m home. Yeah. I’m never going back there again,” he said, with a smile.
He also said he had received thousands of letters of support, so many that the Russian Federal Security Service “stopped giving them to him.”
“I just say thank you to everybody. You know, thank you for all your prayers, your your, you know, good wishes. Thanks for doing everything you did,” he said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the emotional scenes on “Good Morning America” on Friday morning. He was honored to bring them home.
“It was such a human victory. Three innocent people reunited with their families, their loved ones. Getting to see that was just incredible,” Sullivan said.
“But I think it was also a victory for our country. This was the United States of America at its best, working with our allies to bring our people home safe, also to help free freedom fighters. Russians who have fought for democracy and were thrown in prison. That was one of the most extraordinary honors of my life.”
