Gershkovich says he saw Russian espionage case as a route to a prisoner swap
In a BBC Radio 4 interview, the former Wall Street Journal correspondent recounts his arrest, imprisonment and difficult return to ordinary life.
Evan Gershkovich said he came to believe Russian authorities had fabricated an espionage case against him to hold him as a potential prisoner-swap asset. He recounted the arrest and its aftermath in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Masked Federal Security Service agents arrested him at a restaurant in Yekaterinburg in 2023, where he was meeting someone he believed was a source. Gershkovich said the lack of interrogation or torture led him to think he was being treated as a “pawn in a greater game”. His account of the authorities’ motives is his interpretation; he and the Wall Street Journal have maintained the charges were false.
Sentenced to 16 years in prison, he spent 16 months in Moscow’s Lefortovo jail before being freed on 1 August 2024 in a prisoner exchange. Gershkovich said the belief that a swap was possible helped him stay disciplined in custody. The exchange included Vadim Krasikov, who had been serving a life sentence in Germany.
He described prison as isolating, but said he was allowed to sleep and that the food was fine. He stressed that other prisoners faced torture and deprivation, and cited Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity in 2024.
After his release, Gershkovich said he struggled with poor sleep, panic attacks in crowds and a short temper. He said therapy and writing about his ordeal helped. He hopes to return to Russia one day, but said the country’s future leadership remains uncertain.
