Grim Milestone: WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich’s One-Year Mark in Russian Detention

Today marks one year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russian security services while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg. He is accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry.  

He has been detained in a small cell in the notorious Lefortovo Prison on charges of espionage. His family, his employer, and the State Department all deny the charges, as does Evan. All detentions of American citizens are noteworthy and their stories deserve attention until they come home. In this case, it is important to keep Evan’s detention in the headlines because he is the first journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War. 

Authoritarian dictators often clamp down on journalists and Putin is no different. He shows signs of increasing such behavior. A second American journalist, a duel Russian-American citizen, Alsu Kurmasheva, works as an editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), an American government-funded broadcaster. She is based in Prague where she lives with her husband and two children. She visited her ailing mother in her hometown and was detained in June. She remains in prison. This is not a good trend.

The commitment of the Wall Street Journal to keep their colleague’s story of detention prominent in its reporting is admirable. The news outlet uses social media to get its message out. The 32-year-old reporter was based in the WSJ’s Moscow bureau. He speaks fluent Russian. His parents are Russian immigrants who came separately to the United States as young adults. They met and married. Evan was born and raised in New Jersey, along with his older sister, Danielle. The WSJ has arranged numerous events to raise awareness of Evan’s situation. Yesterday, for example, journalists took turns for 24 hours reading Evan’s published reporting and it was streamed on YouTube. 

“We are trying to raise even more visibility to his plight. So, we will have a big social media push with the hashtag #IStandWithEvan and we’d be grateful if anybody that felt so inclined would jump in and amplify that,” longtime Wall Street Journal editor Paul Beckett, who pivoted from overseeing the Washington Bureau to focusing solely on securing the release of Gershkovich, told Fox News Digital. 

The WSJ is asking colleagues and supporters to organize photos that can be shared in coordination with the social media storm and offered printouts featuring #IStandWithEvan. Supporters can also download a variety of social cards to display across Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, with custom images designed to meet each platform’s specific dimensions.

The Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief wrote an open letter that was published today in the paper. The front page of today’s edition of the paper is blank with the message that Evan’s story should be there.   

Evan has shown remarkable willpower, strength and even humor during his wrongful detention. We are amazed at his—and his family’s—steadfastness in the face of such a harrowing ordeal.

But their fortitude doesn’t change the fact that Evan’s detention is a blatant attack on the rights of the free press at a time when evidence abounds around the globe of the vital role that quality journalism plays in our society’s understanding of world events and in bearing witness to history.

We at the Journal remain committed to providing that quality foreign reporting to our readers. But Evan is also an example of the threats that we and other news outlets face in what has become an increasingly dangerous environment for journalists who put themselves on the front lines to bring you the story.

Emma Tucker went on to note that more than 520 journalists are imprisoned around the world, as recorded by an advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders. That number is among the highest ever recorded. 

Evan’s employer and colleagues remain hopeful and committed to expressing their support for his release. President Biden has expressed his commitment to bring Evan home. A potential prisoner swap has been rumored in recent months. 

This one-year anniversary is an opportunity to express our admiration for our colleague and his family. It is a reminder of the dangers facing journalists worldwide as they pursue their essential mission. And it energizes us to continue the effort to ensure that this is the last milestone that Evan spends in prison.

Evan has been designated as illegally detained in Russia and that gives the Biden administration more tools in the diplomatic toolbox to bring Evan home. Biden said today that Putin’s attempt to use Americans as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps must not continue. The problem with that is that Biden is seen as a weak leader on the world stage and Putin is emboldened to do just that.

“We will continue to denounce and impose costs for Russia’s appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips,” Biden added.

Biden doesn’t have a strong record of success in bringing Americans home. Let’s hope his record of success improves in the immediate future.