09.17.24

Durbin, Shaheen Meet With Vladimir Kara-Murza Following Recent Biden-Harris Administration Prisoner Swap With Russia

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, met today with Vladimir Kara-Murza who was recently freed from imprisonment in Russia as part of the Biden-Harris Administration prisoner swap in early August.  Kara-Murza is a Russian opposition figure who survived two poisoning attempts by the Kremlin and earned a Pulitzer Prize while held captive in Russia for his writings aspiring for a democratic Russia and criticizing Vladimir Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine. 

“Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Pulitzer Prize winner, fearless Russian patriot, and a friend.  He believes in a better future for Russia—one in which Russians could live in a free and prosperous society and be at peace with their neighbors,” said Durbin.  “Despite Putin crudely resorting to poison and the gulag to silence his critics, including Vladimir—Vladimir has shown heroic resilience when standing for freedom.  I was honored to welcome him back to my Washington office today and again thank the Biden-Harris Administration for their tireless efforts to free Vladimir and bring him home to his family.”

“It was an honor to meet with my dear friend Vladimir Kara-Murza and celebrate his safe return home. For more than two years, Vladimir was wrongfully detained in a Russian prison after bravely speaking out against Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine,” said Shaheen. “I salute Vladimir's courage and life-long commitment to democracy, and I thank the Biden-Harris Administration and our global partners for facilitating his safe release. We must keep working together to ensure others who are wrongfully detained in Russia—and around the world—come home, too.”

Photos of the meeting are available here.

Durbin and Shaheen released a joint statement when Wall Street Journalist Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Kara-Murza, and Alsu Kurmasheva, along with others wrongfully detained were freed from imprisonment in Russia on August 1, 2024.  Durbin and Shaheen introduced a resolution condemning the Russian government for its arrests of several American citizens and calling for their immediate and unconditioned release, including Mr. Kara-Murza. 

Durbin repeatedly called for the immediate release of Kara-Murza, who he has met various times—as well as other political prisoners across the globe.  In 2021, Durbin joined a group of bipartisan Senators to introduce the Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2021, a targeted bill that would impose sanctions on Russian officials complicit in brazen violations of international law.  Durbin also cosponsored the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.

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