Gershkovich Evan (Evan Gershkovich)

On March 30, 2023, Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal was detained in Yekaterinburg. Law enforcement officers grabbed him near the Bukowski Grill restaurant on Karl Liebknecht Street, pulled a sweater over his head so that passersby could not see his face, and then shoved him into a minivan." "A criminal case for espionage was opened against Gershkovich. According to the FSB, in March 2023, the journalist, acting on behalf of the CIA, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of the defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod regarding the production and repair of military equipment. WSJ rejects the accusations. Gershkovich was preparing material about the "Wagner PMC" and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. He was also interested in the attitude of Russian society towards this organization fighting in Ukraine. In December 2022, Gershkovich became the author of an investigation into how Putin receives distorted reports about the war. According to his information, the Security Council and its secretary Nikolai Patrushev are involved in falsifying data. After Gershkovich's arrest, he was taken to Moscow, where the Lefortovo District Court placed him in custody. On July 19, 2024, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court found Evan Gershkovich guilty and sentenced him to 16 years in a strict regime colony." The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force. On August 1, 2024, Evan Gershkovich was released as part of an exchange between the US and Russia.