Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva says she’s waking up from ‘nightmare’ after being freed in Russia prisoner swap

Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva said being freed from a Russian prison in last week’s historic prisoner swap was like waking up from a “nightmare.”

The 47-year-old Russian American citizen told CNN’s Jake Tapper Monday that she’s only now “being treated as a human being” after getting back onto US soil following nine months locked up in a hellish Russian prison.

“I’ve been waking up from that nightmare,” the mother of two said just days after stepping back on US soil and being reunited with her family.

“I had a feeling I fell asleep 10 months ago and now I’m getting out of it.”

The US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist was detained in October last year and later sentenced to 6½ years in prison after being found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian army — charges she and her employer strenuously denied.

She was finally set free last Thursday alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan as part of the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War.

Speaking about the moments leading up to her release, Kurmasheva admitted she “didn’t know what was going on” but held out hope as she was loaded onto a bus with other prisoners.

“Even then, you can never know for 100% that it’s going to happen,” she said. “So, there was hope, as there is a belief that there is always hope, but you should be ready for anything.”

Kurmasheva recalled immediately recognizing Gershkovich on the bus but said the pair weren’t able to speak until they were loaded onto a US plane bound for Turkey.

“We just greeted each other, and we recognized each other,” Kurmasheva said. “We haven’t met, but we knew each other by the photos. And the first time we talked, it was on the US plane where we took off from Ankara.”

Kurmasheva said she didn’t actually believe she was free until “the very end.”

“It wasn’t until I saw my family that I believed that I’m free,” she said.

“Or, I would say when I was on a US airplane that I really believed that something like magic I was hoping for months was happening.”

Kurmasheva, Gershkovich and Whelan were all reunited with their families after touching down at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland last week.

They were greeted by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris immediately after stepping off the plane.