Photo courtesy of W. Bulach via Wikimedia Commons. Wall Street Journal reported Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in Moscow, showing Russia's hostility against foreign journalists.
Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24
Global Editor
On March 30, 2023, the Russian Federal Security Service announced that they had detained Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and were opening an espionage case against him, The Guardian reported. According to CNN, the FSB has charged Gershkovich with attempting to “obtain state secrets.” Almar Latour, chief executive of Dow Jones, the company that publishes The Wall Street Journal, has staunchly denied this allegation.
Gershkovich, who was based in Moscow as a journalist, is the first American citizen to be accused of and charged with espionage since the Cold War. Gershkovich’s arrest brings relations to a head between Russia and the U.S., which have been strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which began in 2022.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly hostile against foreign media. According to CNN, Gershkovich’s arrest is an indicator of Russia’s increasing crackdown on Western journalism. According to AP News, the Russian government, often referred to as the Kremlin, has heavily censored and even criminalized journalism and certain social media posts that speak against the government. For example, on March 27, a Russian man was convicted in court for posting criticism of the war in Ukraine on social media. He was sentenced to two years in prison. A campaign of censorship on this scale in Russia has not been seen since the Soviet regime.
The detainment of an American journalist also speaks to rising tensions between Russia and the U.S., CNN reported. U.S. lawmakers see the rise in Americans detained in Russia as a political tool to place pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries. In a White House press conference on March 30, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “the targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable.”
In the same statement, Jean-Pierre also issued a warning to American citizens not to travel to Russia. Putin announced in late March that Russia has plans to stall involvement in a new nuclear arms reduction agreement called the New START Treaty. Some lawmakers, such as Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz, have expressed that they see the arrests as political bargaining chips, CNN reported. “We are in very dangerous territory with [Putin],” Moskowitz told CNN, “this is all about leverage and so now we have a human life in the balance.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, a prisoner exchange may be the only way to return Gershkovich home. Such exchanges, having recently returned to the global stage, are becoming increasingly difficult. In the past two years, the U.S. has engaged in two prisoner exchanges, one for former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and the other for WNBA player Brittney Griner. Both Reed and Griner were exchanged for Russian citizens being held in the U.S. on charges including war crimes and drug trafficking. These two prisoner exchanges have reduced the options the U.S. has regarding individuals to release, and figuring out someone palatable enough for the U.S. and valuable enough for Russia has proven to be a challenge. AP News reported that, after a hearing, the Moscow court has ruled that Gershkovich will remain detained until an investigation can begin.