Friday marks the ugly anniversary of Russia’s arrest and continuing imprisonment of our reporter Evan Gershkovich. On Tuesday he was ordered held for another three months at the request of Russia’s Security Service, though he hasn’t been formally charged or put on trial.
The Kremlin claims he is suspected of spying, but his real offence is honest reporting. If he does go to trial, any charges and evidence will be wholly invented.
By the accounts of those who have seen Evan, he has held up remarkably well in notorious Lefortovo prison. That’s a tribute to his character and upbringing. His parents have been relentless advocates and kept his case in front of the public and U.S. officials. The 32-year-old is a brave and sturdy man coping as well as anyone can with unjust confinement and the uncertainty of when it will end.
The Journal has also not let up in its campaign to free Evan. A publication like ours asks reporters, especially the young and intrepid, to shine a light on often dangerous places for the benefit of our readers. Reporters know risk is part of the job, but we do as much as possible to reduce that risk.
Yet there is no protection against a wilful regime intent on taking an American hostage. Evan is the first American journalist taken by the Kremlin since the end of the Cold War, and he was accredited to report in the country by the Russian Foreign Ministry. His last dispatch before his arrest described how the Russian economy isn’t as healthy as advertised and made news worldwide.
The Kremlin may have targeted Evan as a Russian-speaking foreign reporter because he countered its otherwise total media control. His arrest shows how much more dangerous reporting on the world now is as U.S. power declines and authoritarian governments don’t fear the U.S. response. Freedom of the press suffers when free nations recede in influence.
The Kremlin has made a habit of snatching Americans and then holding them to trade for a Russian convicted of crimes in the West. In 2022 Russia arrested basketball celebrity Brittney Griner on a drug charge, and she was held for nearly 10 months before the Kremlin exchanged her for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer serving 25 years in prison on terror-related charges. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has been held for more than five years.
The Biden Administration has worked actively for Evan’s release, and the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow visits him every few weeks. Speaker Mike Johnson invited Evan’s parents to sit in his box at the State of the Union address, and President Biden noted their presence. Members of both political parties have condemned his imprisonment, often in bipartisan statements like those by Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. A notable exception, unless we missed it, is Donald Trump. Why the silence, sir?
The recent history has been that these hostage cases are resolved with prisoner swaps, regardless of the U.S. Administration. But Mr. Putin doesn’t seem to care enough about Russians convicted of crimes and currently in U.S. custody. And make no mistake that Mr. Putin is the decisive actor here. No Russian court will go against Kremlin wishes, and Mr. Putin could order Evan released at any time.
One response that the Biden Administration hasn’t attempted is arresting or expelling Russian journalists operating in the U.S. The Federal Bureau of Investigation surely knows Russians in the U.S. suspected of espionage. As a practical matter this means Mr. Putin has paid no price for arresting an American journalist.
Evan’s fate aside, something has to change in U.S. hostage policy unless this President and his successors want even more Americans to be grabbed and held for exchange on their watch. Iran and Russia have made hostage-taking part of their anti-American strategy, and it has paid off for them. Other countries may figure they can do the same.
***
We are grateful to all of those worldwide — public officials, journalists, and many others — who have kept Evan’s fate in the news. Public attention and advocacy are the only tools we have, since ultimately only the U.S. government has the diplomatic leverage to free Evan. Our hope and prayer is that it will be soon.
The Wall Street Journal
More Coverage
McMahon to wrestle education break-up
Donald Trump said he would nominate World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon to lead the education department that he has vowed to dismantle.
Jones Sues the Onion, Sandy Hook families
Disgraced conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is fighting back against the proposed sale of his right-wing website Infowars to the parent company of the satirical website the Onion.