Evan Gershkovich freed in the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War

American journalist Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was released on 1 August 2024 in Ankara as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and several Western countries, the largest since the end of the Cold War. He had been detained in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and sentenced in July 2024 to sixteen years in prison for espionage, in a closed-door trial.

The same exchange freed Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, among others.

Gershkovich was the first American journalist accused of espionage in Russia since the Cold War. His newspaper, the US government and press organizations maintained throughout that the charge was false and that he was detained for doing journalism.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal; CPJ.