Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan to be freed in prison swap, official says

A mass prisoner swap is believed to be taking place between Russia, the US and several European countries that is expected to free Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, according to a U.S. official familiar with the deal.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 by Russian security forces and accused of being a spy when he was on a reporting assignment to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. The Federal Security Service alleged that he was acting on U.S. orders to collect state secrets — charges that he, the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government rejected as false.

Nearly two weeks ago, Gershkovich was convicted of espionage in a trial the US government denounced as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony.

Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen, was detained in 2018 on espionage charges after traveling to Moscow for a fellow Marine’s wedding. The corporate security director from Michigan was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Gershkovich, who was based at the Wall Street Journal’s bureau in Moscow until he was arrested, was the subject of an extensive “Free Evan” campaign. The Journal sold #IStandWithEvan T-Shirts and put a ticker on its website indicating how many days, hours and minutes Gershkovich had been detained. On Thursday morning, the clock kept ticking at 491 days.

After Gershkovich’s conviction last month, President Biden said the reporter “committed no crime” and “was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American.”

“There is no question that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan,” Biden said in a statement, noting that his administration was committed to the release of Gershkovich, Whelan and all Americans wrongfully detained abroad. “Evan has endured his ordeal with remarkable strength. We will not cease in our efforts to bring him home.”

The deal marked the first high-level prisoner exchange between Russia and the US since December 2022, when WNBA star Brittney Griner was released in return for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.