Alsu Khamidovna Kurmasheva (, ; born ) is a Russian and American journalist with

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

- Bashkir Service. Kurmasheva was arrested in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Russia on October 18, 2023, and charged with failure to register as a

foreign agent A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign principal while located in another host country, generally outside the Diplomatic immunity, protections offered to those working in their official capacity fo ...

. The charge carried a potential sentence of five years in prison. Kurmasheva was released on August 1, 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange.

Early life and education

Alsu Khamidovna Kurmasheva was born on in

Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. She is an ethnic

Career

Kurmasheva incorporates

Tatar culture The culture of Tatarstan is molded from the culture of Volga Tatar people, Russian culture, Russian, and Culture of Europe, European culture. Education The education system in Tatarstan is secular. The literacy rate for the total population is ...

and language in her journalism. She works for

- Bashkir Service. She speaks Crimean Tatar, Russian, Czech, English, Turkish,

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars (; ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. ...

, and Bashkir fluently. Kurmasheva has taught the Crimean Tatar language online.

Detainment

Kurmasheva entered Russia on May 20, 2023, to deal with a family emergency, according to

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. She visited her sick elderly mother living in

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

, Russia. Kurmasheva was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2, 2023, at Kazan airport and authorities confiscated Kurmasheva's passports, preventing her from leaving the country. She was fined 10,000

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

for failing to register her U.S. passport on October 11, 2023, according to court documents. Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18, 2023, and charged with failure to register as a

, punishable by up to five years in prison. Specifically, the charges against Kurmasheva allege that she "deliberately conducted a targeted collection of military information about Russian activities via the internet to transmit information to foreign sources." Her lawyer, Edgar Matevosyan, said she was pleading not guilty. On October 20, 2023, Russian authorities extended Kurmasheva's detention by three days. On October 23, 2023, a district court in Kazan rejected Kurmasheva's request for pretrial measures avoiding incarceration, instead assigning her to a detention center until December 5, 2023. Kurnasheva's detainment garnered significant criticism, particularly from Western governments and international human rights and media freedom organizations.

Dmitry Kolezev Dmitry Evgenievich Kolezev () is a Russian journalist from the region called the Urals, known internationally for his work in independent online mass media, primarily dedicated to life in this region. He is particularly known for his criticism ...

, a prominent Russian journalist, characterized her arrest as "another hostage has been taken." The

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

demanded Russia release Kurmasheva, expressing "deep concern" with her detention and stating "journalism is not a crime." The

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

claimed Kurmasheva's detention was a case of Russian harassment of U.S. citizens. Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, analysts believe Russia may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after the increase of Russian-U.S. tensions following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On April 1, 2024, a Russian court extended her detention until June 5, 2024. In July 2024, Kurmasheva was secretly sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for spreading "false information" about the Russian army. The charges were related to a book she had edited after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ''"Saying No To War,"'' which featured stories of 40 Russians who opposed the invasion.

Release

On August 1, 2024, Kurmasheva, alongside

Paul Whelan Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. Whelan left the Marines in 2008 with a bad conduct discharge after being convicted on multiple counts " ...

Evan Gershkovich Evan Gershkovich (born October26, 1991) is an American journalist and reporter at ''The Wall Street Journal'' covering Russia. Gershkovich graduated from Bowdoin College, majoring in philosophy and English and writing in student newspapers. He m ...

, and various other individuals, was released in a 26 person prisoner exchange. After her release, Kurmasheva attended

Post Isolation Support Activities Post Isolation Support Activities (PISA) is a 10-day optional program offered by United States Army South at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, designed to aid wrongfully detained and imprisoned Americans in decompressing from t ...

, a 10-day program offered by the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

to help former hostages acclimate back to regular life.

Personal life

Kurmasheva holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship. She is married to

Russian American Russian Americans are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those that settled in the 19th-century Russian possessions in what is now Alaska. Russi ...

journalist Pavel Butorin, who immigrated to the United States in the 1990s, and has two daughters.

References