Three Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who were released in a prisoner swap deal with Russia, have returned to American soil.

Gershkovich, 32, was one of 16 prisoners swapped for eight Russian prisoners in what has been described as the biggest swap since the end of the Cold War between Russia and the West.

The exchange at an airfield in Turkey also included the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

The three freed were welcomed by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris - before each hugged their families.

They stayed on the tarmac for pictures and chats before leaving the air base within an hour, as did the Biden and Harris motorcades.

Speaking before their return, Biden welcomed their release and declared: "Their brutal ordeal is over."

He praised the role played by America's allies, particularly Germany and Slovenia, and hailed the release of Whelan, Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and top Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza as an "act of diplomacy".

The three freed Americans will be transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas for a medical checkup.

The deal was made more than 18 months ago and appears to have hinged on Moscow's demand for the return of Vadim Krasikov - who was serving a life sentence in Germany for carrying out an assassination attempt in a Berlin park. Now he is back in Russia.

In total, 24 people from prisons in seven different countries were exchanged in Ankara, Turkey's presidency said. The prisoners were from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus, a statement said.

Ten people, including two minors, were moved to Russia, 13 prisoners to Germany and three to the US, the statement added.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin personally welcomed the freed Russians with bouquets of flowers at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. He hugged them warmly on the red carpet and said that they would be given state awards.

Among those who returned to Moscow, in addition to Krasikov, was a Russian couple, convicted of espionage in Slovenia, who returned to Russia with their two children.

Both NATO and the European Union welcomed the concession, which they said was brokered by Turkey.

German national Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death in Belarus before being pardoned by the country's leader Alexander Lukashenko earlier this week, has also been freed.

Previous discussions of a prisoner exchange had involved jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but the offer collapsed when he died in unclear circumstances in an Arctic penal colony in February. /BBC