Evan Gershkovich recalls Russian arrest he says was a trap

In an interview with BBC News published on 29 September, Gershkovich recalled meeting someone he thought was a source at a restaurant in Yekaterinburg on 29 March 2023. He said about six masked men approached, he was told he was under arrest by Russia’s FSB security service, and the person he had been meeting disappeared into the crowd. Gershkovich described the encounter as a trap. [1] [2]

Russian prosecutors later accused him of gathering secret information about a tank manufacturer on CIA orders. Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal and the US government denied the espionage allegation, saying he was working as an accredited journalist. Most of the trial was closed to the media on state-secrecy grounds. In July 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called his detention arbitrary and said the spying charge lacked factual or legal substantiation. [2] [3]

A Russian court sentenced Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on 19 July 2024. He was freed 13 days later, on 1 August, in a multinational prisoner exchange. Then-US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Russia had insisted that the deal include Vadim Krasikov, who was held in Germany. [2] [7] [8]