“It took me sixteen months to return to a normal life”: Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist released from Russian jails
The Wall Street Journal journalist looks back on his arrest in Russia and his return to freedom after sixteen months of detention.
Quick Look
Evan Gershkovich, a journalist arrested in Russia for espionage in 2023, recounts his experience of detention and his release in his new book, “This beautiful cursed country”, after sixteen months behind bars.
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Why It Matters
Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on March 29, 2023 on espionage charges. He was released after sixteen months in an international prisoner exchange.
By Luis Doncel (El País)
Evan Gershkovich makes no secret that he would prefer to be on the other side of the table. “Your role as interviewer is much more fun than mine,” confides this journalist who has had to get used to being at the heart of the news. His ordeal began on March 29, 2023. Then a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Moscow, he was arrested that day and accused of espionage. He spent sixteen months in prison before being released in the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. This exchange, to which the American and German governments actively contributed, seemed straight out of a spy film.
Since then, he has had time to rebuild himself and write This Beautiful Accursed Country, a book in which he retraces his journey. The son of Russian immigrants, Gershkovich grew up in New Jersey before leaving for Russia in 2017 in search of his origins and in the hope of leading an exciting journalistic career there...
