Part of the overwhelming joy at the White House Thursday afternoon as President Joe Biden discussed the release of several Americans in the largest prisoner swap with Russia in post-Soviet history was Massachusetts' Elizabeth Whelan.
Her brother, former Marine Paul Whelan, was one of four Americans falsely accused of spying on Russia who returned home in a multinational deal involving Germany, Turkey and more.
Whelan was at the White House, to Biden's right, along with other families of the detained Americans. The Biden administration released a photo of the group talking by phone with their loved ones from the Oval Office; they arrived back in the U.S. late Thursday.
Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., called her an "extraordinary person," part of an "extraordinary family," as he reflected on "the rollercoaster they have been on, the birthdays they have lost, Thanksgiving and Christmases they didn't get to spend together."
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said "it is so exciting, it is such a memorable day for the families, some who have waited literally years."
"This is unprecedented," said Nina Tumarkin, a professor at Wellesley College who specializes in Russian history.
She says she doesn't think the swap will signal better relations between the U.S. and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I don't think he's trying to get in good graces with the West," said Tumarkin. "He knows that's absolutely impossible … He was very eager to get his people out."
Two of the Americans released Thursday are journalists: Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal and Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
New Hampshire lawmakers have experience with working to free lawmakers detained abroad, as does the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which has worked for years for moments like Thursday's announcement. It's named for Jim Foley, a journalist killed in 2014 after being captured while reporting on the Syrian Civil War.
"It is a really happy day," said Foley Legacy Foundation Vice President Benjamin Gray, who went on to note that more Americans are being detained worldwide, and more work to do to free them.
"Days like today are very encouraging," he said. "They are always tinged with a little bit of sense that there is more work to be done, and there are a number of families continuing to suffer … their loved ones are continuing to suffer through as they are, through unjust captivity."
One of the Russians sent back from American as part of the deal was businessman Vladislav Klyushin, a businessman sentenced in Boston's federal court in September to nine years behind bars for his involvement in a nearly $100 million hacking scheme.
