Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva displays on life practically 1 month since prisoner swap: “I did not consider it was actual till I hugged my youngsters.”

Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva says she was fantasizing concerning the second she would as soon as once more step foot on American soil and hug her household from the second she was arrested in October 2023.

Earlier this month, after a traditionally advanced and monthslong negotiation that concerned six international locations, Kurmasheva was among the many three American residents launched from Russian jail. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan have been the opposite two Americans launched in a prisoner swap.

“It was a Saturday morning. I used to be informed to pack my belongings in quarter-hour and be out,” she informed CBS Mornings on Friday, recalling the times main as much as her return to the U.S. “And they took me to a high-security jail in Moscow and I did not even understand how lengthy I’d keep there.”

“I used to be scared. I felt pleased. I knew it was coming however nonetheless, I did not consider it was actual till I hugged my youngsters,” she added.

Kurmasheva, an editor for Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty, was detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a international agent. The Committee to Protect Journalists mentioned that Russia accused Kurmasheva of gathering details about Russia’s army actions “with a purpose to transmit info to international sources,” suggesting she obtained details about college academics who have been mobilized into the Russian military. She was sentenced to 6½ years in jail after a secret trial in July.

On Aug. 1, Kurmasheva, Gershkovich and Whelan landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after they have been freed as a part of the prisoner swap that additionally concerned Germany, Solvenia, Poland and Norway.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. inexperienced card holder and Kremlin critic, was additionally launched however opted to go to Germany, based on White House nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan. As a part of the deal, Russia launched 16 prisoners whereas the Western international locations launched eight Russians. The prisoners have been traded on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey.

“(Russia) continues to be an exquisite nation, full of lovely individuals, particularly younger people who find themselves open-minded. Unfortunately, the nation goes by way of some tough occasions proper now,” Kurmasheva mentioned of the Russia she skilled earlier than her arrest. “They haven’t got entry to free and impartial information and knowledge they usually’re struggling. There is a deep uncertainty concerning the future and that overwhelming sense of concern is taking on. People are afraid to speak to their neighbors, to their family and friends – that was my sense.”

Now, practically a month after her return house, Kurmasheva is readjusting and spending time together with her household.

“I’m having fun with a chew of toast with avocado and eggs – one thing we cherish each morning in a free world…,” she mentioned. “Most importantly, I’m with my household, with my youngsters, with my husband and that is an important factor.”

Kurmasheva’s husband, Pavel Butorin, informed CBS Mornings through the 10 months with out his “greatest good friend of greater than 20 years” he at all times requested himself if he was doing sufficient to carry her again.

“Luckily I had the help of the U.S. authorities, I used to be backed by an unbelievable advocacy workforce … we constructed a coalition that helped us exert stress on the U.S. authorities to ensure Alsu was a part of the negotiations with the Russians,” he mentioned. “We are overjoyed to have Alsu with us. For my youngsters who’re rising up within the free world, it was wild to know that their mom was saved in a Russian jail solely as a result of she was an American journalist. We are pleased to have her again within the free world the place she will say and publish no matter she needs.”