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STORY: Americans freed from Russian detention were greeted by U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after their arrival home on Friday, part of the biggest prisoner swap between the two countries since the Cold War.

The freed Americans who landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland included former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, who was serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges that he denied.

Also released was journalist Evan Gershkovich - a Wall Street Journal reporter who was accused in 2022 of spying for U.S. intelligence in Moscow, a charge he and his employer denied.

:: Wister Hitt

The Journal's newsroom in New York erupted in cheers at news of his release.

The returnees also included Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was serving 25 years for treason after saying Putin was bombing Ukrainian homes, hospitals and schools.

:: POTUS VIA X

Ahead of their arrival, families of the freed American prisoners spoke to their loved ones over the phone from the Oval Office.

The trade was negotiated in secrecy with Russia, Germany and three other countries, for more than a year.

It involved 24 prisoners - 16 sent from Russia to the West, and eight from the West back to Russia.

:: File

Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov and Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin were also released as part of the deal, although it's unclear where they were moved.

Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin met and hugged Russian nationals who landed at Moscow airport on Thursday.

They include Vadim Krasikov, who served as a colonel in the FSB.

Krasikov was serving a life sentence in Germany for murdering an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.

Other returnees included two men convicted of cyber crimes in the United States, and several children.

The Kremlin said in the statement to pardon and free prisoners "was made with the aim of returning Russian citizens detained and imprisoned in foreign countries."

The deal provides the Biden administration with a diplomatic success as the U.S. presidential campaign, pitting Harris against Republican former President Donald Trump, enters its final months.

Though critics say freeing Russians convicted of serious crimes could encourage more hostage-taking by enemies of the United States.