After emotional family reunions, the 3 Americans freed in a historic prisoner swap face a challenging road ahead

Ashley R. Williams, CNN

(CNN) — There were plentifulness of hugs to spell astir nan tarmac astatine Joint Base Andrews successful Maryland, wherever 3 Americans formerly detained successful Russia shared affectional reunions pinch their families.

Late Thursday marked nan first clip they embraced their loved ones – successful galore months successful 2 cases and respective years successful different – since nan 3 were released from Russian detention arsenic portion of a historical captive exchange.

Wall Street Journal newsman Evan Gershkovich, erstwhile US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were welcomed backmost warmly astatine nan subject installation by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their relatives.

Gershkovich, 32, who was arrested successful March 2023 while connected a reporting assignment, was sentenced to 16 years successful situation for espionage past period by a Russian court, CNN antecedently reported.

Whelan, 54, who spent astir six years imprisoned successful Russia pursuing his December 2018 apprehension successful Moscow while successful Russia for a friend’s wedding, received a 16-year situation condemnation successful 2020 connected espionage charges. The US State Department designated some Whelan and Gershkovich arsenic wrongfully detained.

Kurmasheva was handed a six-and-a-half-year situation condemnation past period during a closed-door proceeding successful Russia nan aforesaid time Gershkovich was sentenced.

Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist for nan US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained during a travel to sojourn her mother successful Russia successful October 2023 aft allegedly failing to registry arsenic a overseas agent. She was formally accused of spreading mendacious accusation past December, CNN antecedently reported.

The 3 were among 24 detainees released pursuing a complex, multicountry effort to coordinate a captive switch betwixt Russia and different Western nations that spanned years and marked nan largest specified speech since nan Cold War.

WNBA jock Brittney Griner, who was released successful December 2022 from Russian detainment successful a captive switch involving Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, said Thursday she was “head-over-heels happy for nan families” of nan freed prisoners, The Associated Press reported.

Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva were later flown from Maryland to nan associated guidelines successful San Antonio, Texas, wherever US hostage envoy Roger Carstens told nan freed Americans: “The adjacent shape of your travel originates now.”

The adjacent shape aft nan media attraction winds down, according to erstwhile detainees held overseas and 1 of nan organizations moving to thief existent detainees get freed, tin beryllium fraught pinch challenges arsenic group set to state and a caller normal aft being held abroad.

Matthew Heath, a erstwhile US marine from Knoxville, Tennessee, who was detained successful Venezuela from 2020 to 2022, told CNN while he’s “one of nan occurrence stories” connected his ongoing roadworthy to betterment post-release, “there are immoderate returnees who are struggling to this time pinch intelligence illness, pinch occupation loss.”

Heath, who presently useful arsenic a backstage information advisor and says he’s now “doing great” astir 2 years aft returning home, added: “It wholly disrupts your life … it’s incredibly difficult.”

Here’s what nan returnees whitethorn look connected nan roadworthy ahead.

After nan particulate settles

Whelan, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva headed to Brooke Army Medical Center for aesculapian evaluations and further attraction for arsenic agelong arsenic necessary, a US charismatic told CNN.

This is emblematic protocol for wrongfully detained Americans who return home; Griner besides went to nan halfway pursuing her merchandise successful 2022.

Upon first returning home, group designated arsenic wrongful detention detainees aliases hostages by nan US authorities person a prime to participate successful a government-run post-isolation programme involving intelligence and beingness wellness checks, said Liz Cathcart, executive head of Hostage US.

The non-profit supports detainees and hostages while they’re still held successful captivity and aft their merchandise backmost to nan US, Cathcart told CNN. The group has provided semipermanent support to 167 group successful hostage and wrongful detention situations, including Heath.

“If they do that, it tin past for a mates days to a mates weeks,” Cathcart said.

The reliable play for those released tin statesman aft nan post-isolation programme ends, she said.

“What happens aft they are backmost successful their hometown aft this program, aliases if they elite not to, it tends to beryllium rather a quiet time, which tin beryllium really challenging,” Cathcart said.

She added: “The news settles, nan particulate settles, you now person to really look successful nan reflector and commencement to fig retired what your life looks for illustration moving forward.”

Readjusting to family life

Jorge Toledo, 1 of six elder Citgo Corporation lipid and state executives who were detained successful Venezuela successful 2017, antecedently told CNN reintegrating aft his October 2022 merchandise arsenic portion of a captive switch was difficult, peculiarly erstwhile it came to reestablishing relationships pinch relatives.

“I spent almost 5 years successful captivity, truthful it’s a agelong time,” Toledo told CNN’s Pamela Brown successful December 2022. He shared he had to rebuild relationships pinch his spouse, children and grandchildren, who “were conscionable babies” erstwhile he was detained abroad.

Returnees mightiness return to a different family move than what they were utilized to, according to Cathcart.

“Having been held for immoderate magnitude of time, your family backmost location will person taken connected different roles to activity for your release, and truthful starting to study everything that your family did for you erstwhile you were gone tin beryllium really overwhelming,” Cathcart said.

Mental wellness effects tin linger, experts say

Not everyone who’s knowledgeable traumatic experiences specified arsenic being detained unjustly overseas for agelong periods of clip whitethorn create post-traumatic accent upset symptoms, experts say, but affectional impacts related to what they’ve been done tin beryllium typical.

“It’s going to look a small different from individual to individual, but location are immoderate things that we cognize to watch for,” Arianna Galligher, head of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Stress, Trauma and Resilience Program, told CNN.

Struggling pinch sleep, experiencing flashbacks aliases nightmares and becoming easy startled are communal symptoms successful nan contiguous aftermath of specified experiences, according to Galligher.

“They mightiness find themselves having a difficult clip concentrating, they mightiness beryllium a small much irritable than accustomed (or) person a difficult clip getting organized,” she said.

In a New York Times Magazine article successful May, Griner said began experiencing PTSD symptoms astatine nan extremity of her first play backmost pinch nan Phoenix Mercury.

“People opportunity it’s OK to not beryllium OK. But what nan hellhole does that mean? Just outcry erstwhile I want to cry? Or beryllium angry erstwhile I want to beryllium angry? Or does that mean talking astir it? Like, I had to fig that out,” Griner told nan magazine.

Coming to position pinch a caller normal backmost location tin airs intelligence wellness challenges for returnees, Cathcart said.

“It’s a caller life that you’re reentering, it’s a caller shape that you person to mentally travel to position pinch and understand that life will look different – not needfully worse, but different – than it did before,” she said.

Cathcart added, “The qualities that we’ve seen captives build successful hostage situations person been incredibly useful connected nan reintegration side, and (with) being resilient done nan reintegration period.”

‘Almost for illustration you’re coming backmost from nan dead’

The financial load of being detained overseas for a lengthy play tin beryllium significant, arsenic Heath and his family discovered. The erstwhile Marine’s family had to waste his location while he was distant and his accounts were closed, he shared.

“It’s almost for illustration you’re coming backmost from nan dead,” Heath said. “Your driver’s licence expires, financially, you suffer hundreds of thousands of dollars and past you travel backmost and you person to commencement everything over.”

Hostage US helped support him done nan mountains of paperwork awaiting him aft his return, according to Heath, who said he faced a “plethora of mini ineligible problems” including unpaid bills specified arsenic kid support for his son, who lives part-time pinch him.

Heath said he owed back-due payments of astir $40,000. “I accumulated this immense indebtedness and it still causes maine ineligible problems to this day,” he said.

Cathcart noted nan hostage merchandise included journalists, immoderate of whose activity progressive reporting successful nan state they were detained in.

“Their activity mightiness look really different moving forward, and that tin beryllium not only a immense affectional burden, but besides a really applicable burden.”

CNN’s Simone McCarthy, Anna Chernova, Nathan Hodge, Jennifer Hansler, Rosa Flores, Colin McCullough and Nouran Salahieh contributed to this report.

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