US responds to Putin with call for release of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan

Russian leader’s comments on prisoner-exchange talks draw renewed urging for Wall Street Journal reporter’s freedom.

Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old US citizen accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist, was detained by FSB agents on March 29 last year during a reporting trip. Picture: AFP

The US State Department called again on Friday for the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, while declining to comment on a prisoner exchange deal outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin, in a two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that aired Thursday, said a prisoner swap was being discussed between the US and Russia. Such talks have led to swaps in the past and “probably this is going to be crowned with success as well,” Putin said in the interview. “But we have to come to an agreement.”

Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since 2018. Picture: AFP

State Department officials said in response only that “Evan Gershkovich never should have been detained in the first place,” and that he should be freed immediately, along with Paul Whelan, another American the US also considers to be wrongfully detained in Russia.

“Russia should immediately release Evan and Paul Whelan,” said a State Department spokesman in a statement.

Whelan, a former US Marine and corporate security executive, has been held in Russia since 2018. He is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage that he, his family and the US government say is bogus.

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old US citizen who was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist, was detained by FSB agents on March 29 last year during a reporting trip. Russian investigators haven’t publicly presented evidence to back up their espionage allegation against Gershkovich, who is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison.

US officials had said late last year that they had made a “significant proposal” for the release of the two men, which Russia had rejected. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in December that the US was looking for “the right way” to work with Russia to secure the return of both Gershkovich and Whelan.

Russia has said it is acting in accordance with its own laws. The US has said Gershkovich isn’t a spy and has never worked for the government.

In the interview, Putin didn’t name other figures who could feature in a trade deal, but he made clear reference to Russian operative Vadim Krasikov, now serving a life sentence in Germany for gunning down a Chechen émigré in a Berlin park in 2019. Putin described Krasikov without naming him, and called him a Russian patriot.

The Journal said it welcomed remarks indicating support for an agreement that would free Gershkovich, and reiterated its position that he shouldn’t have been held in the first place.

“We’re encouraged to see Russia’s desire for a deal that brings Evan home, and we hope this will lead to his rapid release and return to his family and our newsroom,” the Journal said.

“Evan is a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Any portrayal to the contrary is total fiction,” the Journal added.

“Evan was unjustly arrested and has been wrongfully detained by Russia for nearly a year for doing his job, and we continue to demand his immediate release.”

Russia and the US have reached two recent prisoner-exchange agreements that resulted in the release of Americans held in Russia: a deal in April 2022 that freed the former US Marine Trevor Reed, and another in December 2022 in which basketball star Brittney Griner returned home.

The Wall Street Journal