Wall Street Journal reporter and Princeton native Evan Gershkovich is expected to be released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange deal, according to published reports.
Gershkovich is one of three U.S. citizens being held in Russia that were expected to be part of the prisoner exchange Aug. 1, according to published reports by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.). Russian officials had hinted at a possible prisoner swap several months ago.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia in March 2023 while on a reporting assignment. He was indicted for allegedly gathering information about a Russian defense contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency in June.
Gershkovich was convicted on espionage charges July 18 and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian penal colony. His conviction followed a hasty three-day trial.
Gershkovich grew up in Princeton as the child of Russian emigres. He played soccer and was the captain of the Princeton High School soccer team in 2009. The team went on to win the state championship. He graduated from Princeton High School in 2010.
Princeton Public Schools officials expressed relief that Gershkovich was to be released.
“We are relieved and delighted by the news that Evan has been released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States and other countries,” said Kathie Foster, the acting superintendent of schools.
“Our thoughts are with his family as they will soon be reunited with him after 15 months of wrongful detention. I know I speak for all of Evan’s former teachers, his classmates and the entire Princeton Public Schools community when I share our joy of his return home to the United States and his family,” she said.
Gov. Phil Murphy said he was thrilled to learn that Gershkovich was to be freed from Russia. He was wrongfully convicted of espionage by the “brutal Putin regime – a pawn in a politically-motivated game,” Murphy said.
Murphy thanked President Joe Biden and the American allies involved in the complex, multilateral negotiation for their work in bringing back home Gershkovich and other wrongfully detained Americans.
In addition to Gershkovich, U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva also will be released in the prisoner swap that trades the three Americans for 24 prisoners held in Russia, the U.S., Germany and other Western countries, the BBC reported.
Gershkovich is believed to be the first American reporter to be held as an accused spy in Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed, according to The New York Times.
The last American reporter to be detained was U.S. News and World Report correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in 1986. He was released in exchange for a Russian citizen who was being held in the United States on charges of espionage.
Following graduation from Princeton High School, Gershkovich studied at Bowdoin College in Maine. He graduated in 2014. He majored in English and philosophy. He got his start in journalism as an assistant at The New York Times.
He previously reported for the Moscow Times, which is an independent English-language outlet in Russia. He also worked for the Agence France-Presse before joining The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.
