Evan Gershkovich (born October 26, 1991) is an American journalist and reporter at ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' covering
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. He was detained by Russia's
Federal Security Service on charges of
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
in March 2023, marking the first time a journalist working for an American outlet had been arrested on charges of spying in Russia since the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. The
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
and media advocacy groups have condemned the arrest.
Experts have speculated that the motivation behind the order for Gershkovich's arrest was an anticipated
prisoner exchange
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Conven ...
for one or more high-profile Russians imprisoned in other countries. Gershkovich, who remained in the country following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, was named one of the
100 most influential people in the world by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine after his arrest in 2023.
Early life and education
Gershkovich's parents, Ella and Mikhail Gershkovich, are Jewish immigrants who each settled in the U.S. after leaving the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
via the US. Refugee Resettlement Program
during a period of mass immigration, ending up in the United States in 1979 and eventually New York City, where they met.
The couple moved to
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
, where Gershkovich and his sister grew up speaking Russian at home.
Sources differ on how fluent Gershkovich is in Russian, with Gershkovich himself saying he learned most of his Russian in Moscow, an account bolstered by his colleague,
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
Moscow correspondent Joshua Yaffa.
In 2010, Gershkovich graduated from
Princeton High School where he had captained the
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team. At
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
, he majored in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and English,
wrote for ''
The Bowdoin Orient
''The Bowdoin Orient'' is the student newspaper of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, United States. Established in 1871, the ''Orient'' is the oldest continuously-published college weekly in the United States. It was named the second best tab ...
'' and ''The Bowdoin Review'', and DJ'd for
WBOR
WBOR (91.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, United States. The station broadcasts from the basement of the Dudley Coe Building on the Bowdoin College campus. Programming consists of an eclectic mix of indie ...
, the campus radio station. He graduated in 2014.
Career
Gershkovich worked for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' from 2016 to 2017, ''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'' from 2017 to 2020, and
Agence France-Presse from 2020 to 2022 before moving to ''The Wall Street Journal'' in January 2022.
He had lived in Russia for six years prior to his arrest, at the time of which he was based at the ''Journal''s bureau in Moscow and covering the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
.
He was working in
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
when arrested, covering the Russian mercenary military organization
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
.
Arrest
On March 29, 2023, while Gershkovich was on assignment in
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
, the
counterintelligence department of the
Federal Security Service (FSB) detained him for having information on a "Russian defence enterprise". According to U.S. officials, Gershkovich's driver dropped him off at a steakhouse at 4 p.m. and two hours later his phone was turned off. ''The Wall Street Journal'' hired a lawyer to find him at the FSB's headquarters but couldn't locate him. The
Kremlin confirmed his arrest hours later.
Dmitri Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin.[Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...]
's press secretary, said that he was "caught red-handed" but could not provide further details.
He was transferred to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
where he was formally arrested by a district court until May 29. He was then taken to
Lefortovo Prison, a holding facility used by the Soviet Union to detain Soviet dissidents. He was formally charged on April 7.
United States ambassador to Russia
Lynne M. Tracy met with Gershkovich on April 17 and wrote that he is "in good health and remains strong".
Gershkovich was detained by Russia's
Federal Security Service under charges of espionage, marking the first time a journalist working for an American news outlet has been arrested in Russia on charges of spying since the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
According to
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, a court, operating in closed session, ordered Gershkovich held until the end of May while investigations were ongoing.
According to ''
Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'', he was scheduled to be transferred to
Lefortovo prison while awaiting trial.
A conviction for espionage could carry a sentence of 20 years.
Gershkovich appealed his arrest on April 3. A judge denied his appeal and rejected an offer from ''The Wall Street Journal'' publisher
Dow Jones & Company to post a bond of (). Gershkovich's lawyers said he was reading
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' (1869) and watching cooking shows on monastery cuisine. In a handwritten letter from April 5 obtained by ''The Wall Street Journal'', Gershkovich said he was "not losing hope". He appeared in
Moscow City Court
The Moscow City Court (russian: Московский городской суд (Мосгорсуд), Moskovsky gorodskoy sud (Mosgorsud)) is the highest judicial body of the city of Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Моск ...
on April 18 to appeal his pre-trial detention. A Moscow court extended his detention to August 30 on May 23, where Gershkovich's parents met him. The court rejected his legal team's offer to free him on bail of 50 million rubles ($614,000) or put him under house arrest. He appealed the extension on May 26; a Moscow court denied the appeal on June 22. Tracy met with Gershkovich on July 3.
Reactions
The charges were "vehemently denied" by the ''Journal'', and the arrest was criticized by the White House, the
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
, and the
Society of Professional Journalists, and other media advocacy groups.
Within days
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
issued statements criticizing the arrest. On April 27, 2023, the Biden administration sanctioned
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
's Federal Security Service and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization, accusing them of wrongfully detaining Americans.
Secretary of state
Antony Blinken
Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 a ...
spoke to his counterpart,
Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004.
Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...
, on April 2. He expressed "grave concern" over Gershkovich's arrest and called for the release of
Paul Whelan, a former
Marine accused of espionage in 2018. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
repeated the Kremlin's claim that Gershkovich committed "illegal activities". Russian ambassador to the United States
Anatoly Antonov
Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov (born 15 May 1955) is a Russian military officer and diplomat who is currently the Ambassador of Russia to the United States, formally replacing Sergey Kislyak on 21 August 2017 by presidential decree. With a rep ...
claimed that under secretary of state for political affairs
Victoria Nuland
Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Nuland, a former member of the foreign service, served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eur ...
threatened Russia with "retaliatory measures" unless Gershkovich was released. On April 10, 2023, the US State Department officially designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained",
meaning his case will be transferred to the office of the
Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
press secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre called Gershkovich's arrest "unacceptable". In a statement, Jean-Pierre said, "We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms." Additionally, she said that releasing Gershkovich was a priority for Biden. Departing for
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
to see the aftermath of
tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alth ...
in the state, Biden told reporters, "Let him go". On a diplomatic visit, vice president
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
echoed his statements from
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
with president
Hakainde Hichilema
Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 20 ...
.
The
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
demanded Gershkovich's release. The United States sanctioned the FSB and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
on April 27 for detaining American citizens.
''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' wrote that it stands in solidarity with Gershkovich and his family.
The editorial board of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''—who employed Gershkovich from 2016 to 2017—expressed reproach. A coalition of leaders of dozens of media organizations condemned the arrest in a letter sent to Antonov, as did a separate statement from ''The New York Times'',
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
, ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''.
Senate leaders
Mitch McConnell and
Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
released a bipartisan statement condemning his arrest.
The
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
unanimously passed a resolution calling for the release of American prisoners in Russia on June 13. Former Russia correspondent Alan Philps compared Gershkovich's arrest to
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
of media in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Conservative columnist
Bret Stephens
Bret Louis Stephens (born November 21, 1973) is an American conservative journalist, editor, and columnist. He began working as an opinion columnist for ''The New York Times'' in April 2017 and as a senior contributor to NBC News in June 2017.
...
stated that Putin would benefit from reading Gershkovich's works to gain an independent assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Brittney Griner
Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...
, who was arrested in Russia for carrying
hashish oil before being involved in
a prisoner exchange with arms dealer
Viktor Bout
Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (; russian: link=no, Виктор Анатольевич Бут; born 13 January 1967) is a Russian arms dealer. A weapons manufacturer and former Soviet military translator, he used his multiple companies to smuggle a ...
, called for his release.
The arrest of Gershkovich—an esteemed figure among independent Russian journalists—provoked a response from Russian media. In his first story for ''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'' in 2019, he brought attention to the non-governmental organization
OVD-Info
OVD-Info () is an independent Russian human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution.
History
OVD-Info was founded in December 2011 by Moscow journalist Grigory Okhotin and programmer Daniil Beilinson. They witnessed mass ...
, and relied upon the group mourning Ukrainians killed in the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
. Russia's leading independent journalists published an open letter demanding his release.
Mediazona offered live coverage of his arrest on their website. On
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, exiled broadcast journalist Maksim Kurnikov noted that Gershkovich's arrest could harm Russia's overview of the war.
Analysis
The
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center's said that Gershkovich's coverage of the war in Ukraine is likely what attracted authorities' attention.
Reporters Without Borders' Jeanne Cavalier said the arrest appeared to be "a retaliation measure" that was "very alarm(ing) because it is probably a way to intimidate all Western journalists that are trying to investigate aspects of the war on the ground in Russia".
Former US ambassador in Russia
John J. Sullivan said the arrest was likely a preliminary move in a desired
prisoner exchange
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Conven ...
and that the fact Gershkovich had been charged with espionage rather than a lesser crime indicated the desired swap would likely be for a high-profile prisoner.
Russian foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004.
Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...
suggested that Gershkovich may be part of a
prisoner swap
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Conven ...
. The Kremlin stated that Russia and the United States were in contact over a prisoner swap on July 3.
Former CIA Moscow station chief Daniel Hoffman agreed the timing of the arrest was "probably not a coincidence" and was likely ordered to gain leverage in a prisoner exchange.
Hoffman noted the week before the arrest, the U.S.
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
had indicted
Sergey Cherkasov for espionage, asserting Cherkasov was a Russian spy enrolled at
Johns Hopkins under the guise of being a student from Brazil.
In March 2023, Cherkasov was imprisoned in Brazil for falsifying Brazilian documents, but the U.S. could seek to have him extradited in order to facilitate a prisoner swap.
Cavalier also hypothesized Russia would use Gershkovich as a "bargaining chip" for Cherkasov. Another exchange, hypothesized by
Andrey Zakharov, would be Gershkovich and
Paul Whelan for Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gisch, who were arrested in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
on charges of spying for Russia in January 2023. ''
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'' affirmed that speculation centered on Cherkasov, Mayer, and Gisch. President
Joe Biden told reporters that he was "serious" about a prisoner swap at a news conference in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Gershkovich's parents told
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
anchor
George Stephanopoulos that Biden would "do whatever it takes" to release him.
See also
*
Nicholas Daniloff
Nicholas S. Daniloff (born December 30, 1934) is an American journalist who graduated from Harvard University and was most prominent in the 1980s for his reporting on the Soviet Union. He was briefly detained by Soviet security services on espiona ...
, an American journalist arrested in Moscow in 1986
*
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.'
Pearl was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and rais ...
, an American journalist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002
*
List of American people imprisoned in Russia
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gershkovich, Evan
1991 births
Living people
People from Princeton, New Jersey
Journalists from New York City
Jewish American journalists
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people imprisoned in Russia
The Wall Street Journal people
Princeton High School (New Jersey) alumni
Bowdoin College alumni
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American journalists