Nearly one year ago, the family of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva purchased tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday as a birthday gift for her daughter Miriam.
But then Kurmasheva, who works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in May while visiting her mother in Russia, and arrested in October for failing to declare herself a “foreign agent,” according to her employer.
Just last week, she was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in Russia, accused of spreading false information about the Russian army.
Kurmasheva’s family was ripped apart by her detainment. But on Thursday, she was freed — along with Americans Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan — in a landmark, multinational prisoner swap.
She returned to U.S. soil late Thursday night, where she and the other freed prisoners were greeted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Now Miriam, who turns 13 on Friday, gets to celebrate a more special gift: her mother’s freedom and safe return.
“Almost a year ago, the family bought tickets for today’s Warsaw show,” Ari Goldberg, the communications director for RFE/RL, Inc., told NBC News Friday. “They bought four tickets, even though Alsu had been prevented from leaving Russia at that point.”
The family assumed her initial detainment was a “minor passport related issue and she would just pay a fine,” Goldberg explained, so they went through with buying her a ticket, not knowing that months later she’d be charged.
Kurmasheva’s two daughter, who are “massive Swifties,” have been looking forward to the show “for ages,” Goldberg said.
“The Taylor Swift tickets were the original birthday gift for Miriam who turns 13 today. Her original birthday gift were these Taylor Swift tickets, but an even bigger present was her mom returning,” he said. It’s a special time for the family, as Kurmasheva’s other daughter Bibi turned 16 about two weeks ago.
Though the family won’t be able to make it to the Friday concert as Kurmasheva has only just returned to the U.S., it’s a milestone they expect to celebrate together soon.
“There are definitely plans in the works to go to a future show,” Goldberg said, noting that the daughters and their father wore Taylor Swift-style friendship bracelets that say “FREE ALSU” while Kurmasheva was detained.
“The beauty now is that they can go to the show as a whole family, all four of them.”
