Alsu Kurmasheva, Russian-American journalist, freed in historic prisoner swap

Among those freed in one the largest prisoner exchanges in decades was Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist who was sentenced to more than six years in a Russian prison after a trip to visit her elderly mother turned into a nightmare.

President Biden on Thursday said at a news conference that Russia had convicted Kurmasheva, along with Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, in "show trials" and that "all three were falsely accused of being spies."

Here's what we know about Kurmasheva.

Who is Alsu Kurmasheva

Kurmasheva, 47, is an editor with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a media organization funded by the U.S. government. She and her husband, Pavel Butorin, who is also employed by Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, share two children, Bibi and Miriam.

Kurmasheva is originally from the Russian region of Tatarstan, over 600 miles east of Moscow. She was most recently based in Prague, where she and her family have lived for more than two decades, according to the New York Times.

Why was Alsu Kurmasheva arrested?

Kurmasheva, who holds citizenship in Russia and the United States, traveled to Russia in May 2023 to visit her mother. On June 2, while awaiting her return flight, she was temporarily detained by Russian authorities and her dual U.S.-Russian passports were confiscated, forcing her to stay in the country, according to RFE/RL.

She was initially fined for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities; however, in October, she was arrested and charged with "failing to register herself as a foreign agent," RFE/RL reported. She pleaded not guilty.

In December, Russian authorities accused Kurmasheva of spreading false information about the Russian military, which she repeatedly denied. "Russian authorities are conducting a deplorable criminal campaign against the wrongfully detained Alsu Kurmasheva," RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in a statement at the time.

Kurmasheva's husband Pavel Butorin said his wife's wrongful charge was related to a book that she had edited entitled "Saying No to War. 40 Stories of Russians Who Oppose the Russian Invasion of Ukraine."

Kurmasheva sentenced to 6 years in prison

Kurmasheva was held in pre-trial detention for months as her custody was extended multiple times. Meanwhile, she told reporters her health was waning and that she hadn't spoken with her children since her arrest in October.

On July 19, she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army. On the same day, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage.

Her sentencing came two weeks before she would be released in the historic prisoner swap. After it was announced that Kurmasheva was among those freed from Russian captivity Thursday, Butorin and their two daughters embraced on stage in Washington D.C. while Biden spoke nearby about the sweeping prisoner exchange.

Contributing: Reuters