Free at last: American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva swapped in Russian prisoner exchange
Evan Gershkovich, an American Wall Street Journal correspondent, and Alsu Kurmasheva, Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFE/RL, were released on 1 August in a prisoner exchange with Russia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is hugely relieved that they are finally free, and condemns the Kremlin’s arbitrary detention of these journalists, which amounts to state hostage-taking.
Evan Gershkovich, correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and Alsu Kurmasheva, Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were freed on 1 August in a prisoner swap between Russia and multiple Western countries, including the United States and Türkiye.
“We are hugely relieved by reports that both Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva have been released, following 16 months of detention for Gershkovich, and nine months for Kurmasheva. Neither should have spent a single day in a Russian prison for doing their jobs as journalists. As we await confirmation of their safe return to the United States, we emphasise that journalists are not targets and must not be used as political pawns in this way. The international community must make clear to the Russian government that their outrageous practice of state hostage-taking will not be tolerated. In the meantime, we continue to advocate for the release of the more than 40 other journalists who remain detained in Russia in connection with their work.
The two journalists were each sentenced on 19 July by Russian courts. Gershkovich, arrested on 29 March 2023, was sentenced to 16 years of prison on charges of espionage after an expedited trial that began on 26 June. He spent more than 16 months in detention in Lefortovo prison in Moscow.
Alsu Kurmasheva, journalist for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) who was arrested in October 2023, was also sentenced on 19 July to six-and-a-half-years of prison during a secretive trial, but the verdict was not made public until 22 July. The week prior, RSF had launched a petition urging the United States to designate Kurmasheva as “wrongfully detained,” which would allow the government to marshall its full resources to secure her release.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the repression of independent journalists in Russia has accelerated, forcing them to continue their work in exile. In Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, journalists who refuse to collaborate with Russian forces are directly targeted.
