US Deems WSJ Reporter ‘Wrongfully Detained’ – Paving Way For Possible Swap

Following last month’s detention of US citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by Russia’s Federal Security Service on charges of espionage, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a rare phone call in early April with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to open up discussions over the detention, which Washington immediately condemned. 

Despite the constant media attention that Brittney Griner’s arrest and imprisonment received throughout last year, Gershkovich’s case is much more serious, as he faces 20 years in prison. The FSB claimed he got caught “red-handed” in an attempt to obtain “information amounting to a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

But the US State Department is already moving faster on Gershkovich’s case (again, compared to either Griner or ex-Marine Paul Whelan), given Secretary Blinken on Monday declared Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” by Russia.

“Today, Secretary Blinken made a determination that Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained by Russia,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in the statement.

“Journalism is not a crime.  We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”

Patel continued, “The U.S. government will provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”

The change of an imprisoned citizen’s status to “wrongfully detained” means the US can legally approach the case as a hostage negotiation and thus use all available means to obtain their release, including potential prisoner swap, as was controversially done with the WNBA’s Griner. At this point, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs can get involved, utilizing interagency resources as well.

Interestingly, it took some months for Griner to be declared wrongfully detained, which is what ultimately led to her being swapped for Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout; but in Gershkovich’s case, it has only taken a few weeks. This suggests the US administration wants to see him back quickly.

Is another high-profile prisoner swap with Russia already being negotiated and planned?