The stars, a family hug and the difficult road back from Russian detention

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — Paul Whelan has spent the past two years relishing cutting the grass.

It is a task that is, for most, mundane at best. But for Whelan, routine things like mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, and stargazing are privileges that he was deprived of during the more than five years he spent in Russian detention.

“I know it sounds silly, but when you’re locked up for five and a half years in places that don’t have grass, and then all of a sudden, you know, you’re at home and you have a yard that doing things like cutting the lawn … are pleasant again. I often ride around on my little John Deere lawn mower, smoking a cigar, cutting the lawn,” he recounted.

“You couldn’t see the stars in prison,” Whelan continued. “Although the sky was open, they had searchlights and lights all over the place, so at night you couldn’t see the stars.”

“Just being able to, on a dark night, look up and see the stars is something that I had missed,” he told CNN.

Saturday marks exactly two years since Whelan, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, American journalist Evan Gershkovich, Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza and more than a dozen others were freed from Russia in a sweeping prisoner swap.

In the two years since they were freed, they have been not only re-adjusting to their lives but also working to help others who are still detained in the country. Whelan and Kurmasheva spoke to CNN about those efforts and their reflections as they approached the anniversary.

‘I missed so much’

Readjusting to life after Russian detention has not been without significant challenges.

Kurmasheva spent almost a year in Russia detention. Although the second year since her release has been “easy in terms of health,” but “in terms of understanding of what happened to me, I don’t think I will ever forget.” In the first year, Kurmasheva struggled to acclimate after months of isolation, she told CNN.

“I missed so much with my family. I missed so much what was going on around the world. You know, we are journalists, right? We have this ‘FOMO, fear of missing out,’” she described.

“Suddenly I was away for many months, and so I was slowly going back into all this news and informational environment, and as I was going back deeper, many things would seem very disturbing to me because I missed something,” Kurmasheva explained. “I had to spend some time going back and reading and watching videos to understand why certain things are the way they are.”

It was easier with her family, she said, because they had been making videos of “everything they tried new without me” and “what was happening within the family when I was gone.”

“So that big video archive is still there, and we easily go back to rewatch it,” she told CNN.

Since she gained her freedom, she’s been grateful to experience her family’s milestones in person, like her older daughter’s graduation. They never got to see Taylor Swift – her daughters missed a show because Kurmasheva was freed from Russia the day before – but the family has seen “great concerts” in the two years since.

“I’m so happy to be to be close, to listen to them, to give that hug when they need that the most. That was the biggest thing that we missed,” she told CNN.

For Whelan, the challenges have included navigating employment and healthcare.

His home state of Michigan “doesn’t provide unemployment benefits,” he said, and “there are no other state benefits or federal benefits provided for hostages.”

“You find that you’re kind of out there on your own and fending for yourself, or relying on the kindness of strangers and whatnot,” Whelan told CNN. “That’s been kind of tough because the government does a lot to get you home, and then they kind of just drop you off at the curb, and you’re on your own.”

Whelan has been working with lawmakers on legislation that would use frozen assets from countries that detain Americans, like Russia, to compensate former detainees, he said.

He is still able to communicate with some of Russians with whom he was imprisoned – the ones that are still alive, that is.

“Unfortunately, several of them are dead because they were forced to go to Ukraine and they died in combat operations,” Whelan told CNN.

“For the ones that are either still in prison or have made it home, they’re telling me that the economic conditions are horrible. There are no jobs. They’re worried about being sent to the military,” he continued.

Working to help those still detained

Both Whelan and Kurmasheva have been working to try to help those who are still detained.

Whelan appreciated receiving letters and cards while imprisoned and also sent dozens of his own, including to CNN. He has used donations to his GoFundMe account to send letters, cards and care packages and put money on prison accounts of people overseas to remind them they aren’t forgotten, he said.

Kurmasheva also recalled the comfort she got in prison from a letter describing the Christmas market in Prague – “it was my life for many months there,” she said. “I would close my eyes and imagine myself being free and being on that market.”

She has sent dozens of cards to imprisoned journalists in Russia. She has also been working to raise awareness of journalists detained around the world, including American Reza Valizadeh in Iran.

There are numerous Americans who remain detained in Russia, including Robert Gilman, Andre Khachatoorian, Olga Jezler, Chuck Zimmerman, David Barnes, Aleksander Antonov, and Stephen Hubbard. Only Hubbard has been designated as wrongfully detained.

“US officials have raised Stephen Hubbard’s case with Russian officials on multiple occasions, calling for his immediate release,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The Trump Administration takes seriously our commitment to Americans abroad and will continue to advocate on behalf of Americans detained in Russia,” they said.

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