Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) released the following statement regarding the release of Virginian Vladimir Kara-Murza from his wrongful detention in Russia. The news follows a push led by Kaine and Wexton to urge the State Department to engage directly with the Russian government to secure his release.

“We are gratified that the Biden-Harris Administration heeded our call to secure the release of Virginian Vladimir Kara-Murza after his years-long wrongful detention in Russia. It is an enormous relief that he has been brought to safety and will soon be reunited with his family. The United States must continue to do all that we can to bring home other Americans who have been wrongfully detained abroad, and to hold Putin accountable for his tyrannical rule.”

Kara-Murza is a journalist, pro-democracy advocate and permanent resident of Virginia, where his family still resides. Kara-Murza demonstrated exceptional courage in returning to Russia, where he was wrongfully arrested in Moscow in April 2022 shortly after criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a CNN interview. He was charged with treason, spreading false information about the military, and working with an “undesirable” civil society organization. All charges were spurious and intended only to censor free speech and criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In addition to their letter earlier this year, Kaine and Wexton wrote to President Joe Biden in October 2023, urging the designation of Vladimir Kara-Murza as an “unlawfully or wrongfully detained” U.S. national under U.S. federal law. Senator Kaine also cosigned a resolution condemning Russia’s unjust and arbitrary detention of Kara-Murza.