Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American journalist, is set to be part of a prisoner swap after being arrested on espionage charges in Russia, marking the first such incident involving a US journalist since the Cold War.
Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 while reporting for the Wall Street Journal during a visit to Yekaterinburg. Russian authorities accused him of spying for the CIA, although no public evidence has been presented to support these allegations.
Shortly after his arrest, the US State Department declared Gershkovich as wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.
Following his detention, Gershkovich was held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, where he spent most of his time in a confined cell. He was later moved to Yekaterinburg, over 1,100 miles away from Moscow, where he continued to be held.
During his imprisonment, Gershkovich communicated with his loved ones through letters and was granted only one hour of outdoor time per day, as revealed by his parents in an interview with the WSJ.
On July 19, a Russian court convicted Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison, a ruling strongly condemned by the US government, the Wall Street Journal, and his supporters, who deemed the trial a farce.
Despite the accusations, Gershkovich, along with the US government and the WSJ, vehemently denied the spying charges brought against him.
