The Whelan family nightmare has finally come to a close with former Marine Paul Whelan’s return to the United States after he spent more than five grueling years in a Russian prison.

Whelan went to Moscow a couple of days before Christmas in 2018 for a former fellow Marine’s wedding when he was arrested on allegations he was a spy. He was arrested on Dec. 28, 2018, and was in a Russian prison from that moment until Thursday, when the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Belarus, and Russia agreed to the largest exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West since the Cold War.