Detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich to stand trial in Russia

Russian authorities confirmed on Thursday that Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich will stand trial for criminal charges of espionage. The 32-year-old journalist was detained by Russian officials in March 2023 and accused of gathering state secrets. Russian officials have yet to publicly release evidence in support of their accusations and have extended Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention several times.

In a February interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin told conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson that Gershkovich might be returned in a prisoner exchange. Political analysts previously theorized Russia’s desire to use Gershkovich for bargaining leverage amid tension with the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His case has been compared to the Soviet Union’s arrest of American journalist Nicholas Daniloff in 1986.

What exactly has Gershkovich been accused of? Gershkovich collected secret information for the CIA about the production and repair of military equipment, the office of Russia’s Prosecutor General alleged. A trial date has not been released, but Gershkovich will be tried in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, over 800 miles east of Moscow.

Gershkovich will face a sham trial for a false and baseless charge, which is both deeply disappointing and outrageous, wrote Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker in a Thursday statement. He has been wrongfully detained for 441 days for just being a journalist, she added. 

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift on Biden’s acknowledgment of the first anniversary of Gershkovich’s arrest and the warning he gave Putin.