WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Set for Release in Prison Swap

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian colony for counter-espionage, may be freed as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and the US. on the side of Germany.

According to a report by the politically informed newspaper Politika.Kozlov, which was reprinted by the Moscow Times late Wednesday, between 20 and 30 political prisoners and journalists imprisoned in Russia are about to be released in what could be a massive release. prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War.

Gershkovich was arrested in Russia in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the eastern Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Russia accused him of working with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), charges Gershkovich and the WSJ vehemently denied.

In July he was sentenced to 16 years in prison, becoming the first American journalist to be convicted of espionage since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s.

President Joe Biden issued a statement after the sentencing declaring Gershkovich innocent and saying he was targeted “by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”

At the time of Gershkovich’s sentencing, there were suggestions in some media and informed outlets that the speed of his trial indicated that a prisoner swap deal was on the cards.

Other names on Politika.Kozlov’s speculative list of possible releases include Russian-UK political activist and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza and US diplomat and former marine Paul Whelan.

The last prisoner exchange between Russia and the US was in December 2022 when American basketball star Brittney Griner was released on the parole of arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US at the time.

At the time of Griner’s release, Biden expressed regret that Whelan was not included in the same exchange. Griner also vowed to continue campaigning for his fellow Americans who are still being held in Russian prisons.