25 Facts About Evan Gershkovich

Evan Gershkovich was born on October26,1991 and is an American journalist and reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering Russia.

Evan Gershkovich moved to Russia in 2016, contributing to multiple media outlets, and has been with The Wall Street Journal since 2022.

Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russia's Federal Security Service on charges of espionage 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.

On July19,2024, Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted in an espionage trial.

Evan Gershkovich was released on August1,2024, as part of a prisoner exchange.

The US officials have speculated that the motivation behind the order for Evan Gershkovich's arrest was an anticipated prisoner exchange for one or more high-profile Russians imprisoned in other countries.

Evan Gershkovich, who remained in the country following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine after his arrest in 2023.

Sources differ on how fluent Evan Gershkovich is in Russian, with Evan Gershkovich himself saying he learned most of his Russian in Moscow, an account bolstered by his colleague, The New Yorker Moscow correspondent Joshua Yaffa.

In 2010, Evan Gershkovich graduated from Princeton High School, where he had captained the soccer team.

Evan Gershkovich worked for The New York Times from 2016 to 2017, The Moscow Times from 2017 to 2020, and Agence France-Presse from 2020 to 2022 before moving to The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.

Evan Gershkovich had lived in Russia for six years prior to his arrest, at the time of which he was based at the Journals bureau in Moscow and covering the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Evan Gershkovich was working in Yekaterinburg when arrested, covering the Russian mercenary military organization Wagner.

On March 29,2023, while Evan Gershkovich was on assignment in Yekaterinburg, the counterintelligence department of the Federal Security Service detained him for having information on a "Russian defence enterprise".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said "we have irrefutable evidence that Evan Gershkovich was engaged in espionage" during a visit to New York in July 2024.

Evan Gershkovich was then taken to Lefortovo Prison, a holding facility used by the Soviet Union to detain Soviet dissidents.

Evan Gershkovich was accused of acting on behalf of foreign intelligence and attempting to collect classified information about Uralvagonzavod, the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world, in Yekaterinburg.

Evan Gershkovich's lawyers said he was reading Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and watching cooking shows on monastery cuisine.

Evan Gershkovich appeared in a court in Yekaterinburg on June 26 and July 18,2024.

Evan Gershkovich 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 repeated the Kremlin's claim that Evan Gershkovich committed "illegal activities".

Russian state media reported that the trial of detained US journalist Evan Gershkovich scheduled to be held behind closed doors.

Evan Gershkovich denied the charges and his trial was set to begin on June 26,2024, in Yekaterinburg.

Evan Gershkovich's trial resumed in Russia behind closed doors after nearly 16 months in detention.

Former US ambassador in Russia John J Sullivan said the arrest was likely a preliminary move in a desired prisoner exchange 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.

Evan Gershkovich's parents told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that Biden would "do whatever it takes" to release him.