Friday marks 100 days that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained by Russia during a reporting trip and accused of espionage, making him the first American journalist held by the Kremlin on such charges since the Cold War.
"It's hard to believe Evan is coming up on 100 days," Lucian Kim, a friend of Gershkovich and former NPR Moscow correspondent, told Fox News Digital. "I think of him every day, in that jail cell in one of Moscow's most notorious prisons, a young journalist now accused of espionage just because he tried to tell the story of Russia — a country we know less and less about."
"At the same time, I know Evan to be an immensely positive person, and I think the knowledge that so many people on the outside are supporting him helps him a lot. I've had limited communications with Evan. But I have let him know that he has many, many friends who are waiting until the day he walks free."
Gershkovich was detained March 29 in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy. The United States has all along asserted that Russia's allegation that Gershkovich is ridiculous on its face, as have his colleagues, who describe the 31-year-old, American-born son of Soviet immigrants as a diligent reporter who is being used as a political pawn due to his high profile.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny the allegation and have called for his immediate release. His arrest is seen as a brazen violation of press freedom that not only poses widespread consequences for journalism and the media, but to governments and democracies everywhere, and part of a wider journalism crackdown by the autocratic Russian Federation.
In April, less than two weeks after he was detained, the U.S. officially designated him "wrongfully detained" by Russia. The designation allowed his case to be specially handled by the State Department's Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and signified that he is viewed officially as a political prisoner and not a legitimate detainee of Russia.
Hugh Dugan, who served as acting Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that Russia is no hurry and can continue to use its leverage by slowing down the legal process against Gershkovich. He faces decades in a Russian prison if convicted of the charges, which would be a near-certainty according to experts.
"The cost of holding him is not so high. We haven't made it expensive enough to keep holding him. The consequences on them have not been severe enough or don't appear to be severe enough," Dugan said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said journalism is not a crime and condemned the Kremlin's "continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth."
The Wall Street Journal has been deeply moved by the ongoing global support Gershkovich, known for his on-the-ground journalism that put a spotlight on issues inside President Vladimir Putin’s country, has received and has vowed to "not rest until Evan is released."
The paper has encouraged supporters to share Gershkovich’s journalism and latest updates on his situation by visiting WSJ.com/Evan. Readers can also access media assets and images such as #IStandWithEvan profile photos, banners and cover images to be used across social media. The WSJ also allows readers to write a message to Evan and his family.
DETAINED WSJ REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH'S COLLEAGUES SPEAK OUT ON HIS PASSION FOR JOURNALISM, RUSSIA
"Evan is staying strong despite everything," Financial Times reporter Polina Ivanova, a close friend of Gershkovich, recently told Fox News Digital. "He's focused and determined, and also continuing to read a great deal and reply to letters from supporters and friends."
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution calling on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich. The vote was 422-0 in favor of the resolution.
"We applaud the latest show of bipartisan support from Congress in the fight for Evan’s release. His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society," WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker and publisher Almar Latour said in a joint statement.
"We will not rest until he is free," they continued.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR EVAN GERSHKOVICH
The Kremlin on Tuesday addressed the potential of a prisoner swap with the United States for Gershkovich, a day after the U.S. ambassador to Moscow was permitted to visit the journalist held at the notorious Lefortovo Prison for the first time since April.
On a call with reporters Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked whether Monday's consular visits to Gershkovich and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap.
"We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don't want them to be discussed in public," Peskov said of discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. "They must be carried out and continue in complete silence."
Dugan said on the heels of the Wagner mercenary group's incursion into Moscow, Putin could ill afford to look weak and not get a handsome ransom for Gershkovich in a future prisoner exchange. In the meantime, he said the U.S. needed to demonstrate strength towards a "bully" and make the price high to try to prevent future seizings of American citizens.
"Taking a hostage is tantamount to its own war, so to speak, one small battlefield, one person the prize," Dugan said. "This is warfare and very serious escalation of the Russians toward us, and I'm not saying we do a tit for that and take one of them. We don't play that game."
[Whether] it's sanctions or robust display of some type of military [force], our administration needs to get into the mindset of that regime as it is today and find out what will make their hair stand on the back of their necks while marinating our adherence to civilized discourse among countries," he added.
A Moscow court last week upheld a ruling to keep Gershkovich in custody until Aug. 30.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, addressing reports that a prisoner exchange could be in the offing soon for Gershkovich, wouldn't elaborate further this week.
"I wish I could stand in front of you and say that we have news to share on Evan," she said Wednesday. "What I can say is: Evan, along with Paul Whelan, who are both wrongfully detained, as you know, should be home. They should be home with their families."
Gershkovich is the American son of Soviet-born Jewish exiles. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Bowdoin College, a liberal-arts school in Maine, in 2014. Prior to joining the Journal, he was a news assistant foe The New York Times and a reporter for Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times.
Wall Street Journal leadership has said all Americans have a stake in Gershkovich’s release because "a free press is pivotal to maintaining a free society." Dow Jones CEO and WSJ publisher Almar Latour will be on "Special Report with Bret Baier" on Friday to provide the latest update.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.
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Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
