CNN —Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva said she’s “finally being treated as a human being” following her release from Russian detention in a historic prisoner exchange between Washington and the Kremlin last week.
“I’ve been waking up from that nightmare,” Kurmasheva told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” in her first television interview since her release.
Kurmasheva rushed into the arms of her husband and daughters on the tarmac after greeting Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.
The US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist had been detained in October 2023 and found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian army – charges her family and employer deny.
Kurmasheva and her husband, Pavel Butorin, have two daughters, including one who turned 13 just minutes after reuniting with her mother.
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