Russian prosecutors said today that they have approved an indictment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. He has been held in a Russian prison since March 29, 2023.

The 32-year-old reporter is based at the Wall Street Journal's Moscow bureau. He was on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, about 900 miles east of Moscow, when the Federal Security Service or FSB detained him. He was falsely accused of espionage. 

With an indictment approved, Evan's case is referred to a trial court. He faces a series of secret, closed-door hearings. Evan, the Wall Street Journal, and the Biden administration deny that Evan is a spy. He is an American citizen and was accredited to work in Russia. 

He has been held in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison where he is held in a cell for 23 hours a day. The U.S. government has deemed Evan as wrongfully detained.

In a statement issued today, Russian authorities claimed that Evan was gathering information on a defense contractor for the CIA. It's a false claim - he was on assignment for the Wall Street Journal, his employer.

Evan's trial will likely take place in Yekaterinburg. The specifics of when and where have not been disclosed. There will be little or no due process in Russia that he would have available in the United States or other countries. 

Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker demanded Evan's immediate release. They urged the Biden administration “to redouble efforts to get Evan released.”

“Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge. Russia’s latest move toward a sham trial is, while expected, deeply disappointing and still no less outrageous,” they said. “Evan has spent 441 days wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for simply doing his job. Evan is a journalist. The Russian regime’s smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime. Evan’s case is an assault on free press.”

Sadly, Evan and other Americans are being held as pawns by Putin. Putin wants to use American hostages as leverage in the release of Russians imprisoned in other countries. The Biden administration doesn't have a good record in getting Americans released overseas and brought back home. 

Journalists are Putin's most recent hostages. Since Evan's detainment, another journalist was detained. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, is a dual Russia-U.S. citizen. She was detained last year in the city of Kazan while visiting her ailing mother. Her detention has to do with proper registration as a journalist, though she and her employer insist that her paperwork is up-to-date. Russian authorities claim that she failed to register as a foreign agent. That is a designation Russian authorities extend to hundreds of organizations and individuals. She was charged with spreading false information about the Russian military. A connection was made between her and a book she helped edit that criticizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Putin claims to be ready to make a prisoner swap to release Evan. 

The Biden administration has worked for Gershkovich’s release. Earlier this year, the Biden administration explored a possible proposal to free Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen and a former Marine also being held in Russia. At a meeting in Washington, President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed proposing to Russia a complex prisoner swap that would involve trading Whelan and Gershkovich for Krasikov.

Whelan has been held in Russia since 2018. After a trial that was held entirely in secret, he was convicted in 2020 and is serving a 16-year sentence. The U.S. considers Whelan to be wrongfully detained. Whelan, his family, and the U.S. government say his conviction was based on false allegations.

Biden and Putin are reported to also discuss the possibility of freeing Alexei Navalny. He was imprisoned in an Artic Gulag. The White House never presented a formal proposal to Moscow. A week later, Navalny was dead. 

The Biden administration is inept and weak on the world stage. Putin knows it and acts with impunity. Putin wants to collect American hostages as leverage to swap for Russians imprisoned in other countries. 

Joe Biden has made the world more dangerous for Americans, not safer. Evan is the first American journalist to be held hostage in Russia since the end of the Cold War. We need a change in leadership in the White House.