Russia Releases Princeton's Evan Gershkovich In Prisoner Swap

PRINCETON, NJ — Wall Street Journal reporter and Princeton native Evan Gershkovich was released by Russia on Thursday in a massive prisoner swap, the news organization confirmed.

The prisoner swap took place at an airport in Ankara, Turkey, the New York Times said.

The major prisoner swap also includes Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who was also imprisoned in Russia; Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist from Radio Free Europe and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Washington Post contributing columnist.

Gershkovich and Whelan were convicted of espionage charges that the U.S. government deemed baseless.

In a statement released Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the release of the detainees.

"The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy. All told, we’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over," Biden said.

"I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome— including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer."

According to the AP, Russia has been interested in getting back Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscow's security services.

The prisoner swap involved the release of Russian political prisoners as well as numerous Russians jailed in the West on charges of espionage, murder and other crimes, the Guardian reported.

Last month, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison after a quick trial and conviction, that Washington regarded as a sham. He had pleaded not guilty.

Gov. Phil Murphy released a statement Thursday afternoon saying he was thrilled at Gershkovich's release. He went on to thank President Joe Biden for his efforts in securing the reporter's release.

"I am thrilled to hear that, after over a year of detention, Evan Gershkovich has been freed from Russia. Evan is a New Jersey native and Princeton High School graduate who was wrongfully convicted of espionage by the brutal Putin regime - a pawn in a politically-motivated game," Murphy said.

"I am praying for his safety and health as he returns home to his family and reacclimates to life back in the U.S. I'd like to thank President Biden and our allies involved in this complex, multilateral negotiation for their work in bringing Evan and other wrongfully detained Americans home."

The reporter was detained on March 2023 while reporting in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains. He is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since 1986.

The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, Gershkovich moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times before being hired by the Journal in 2022.

He graduated from Princeton High School in 2010 and then attended Bowdoin College.

Kathie Foster, Acting Superintendent, Princeton Public Schools released a statement saying the district was relieved and delighted at the news of Gershkovich's release.

"We are relieved and delighted by the news that Evan Gershkovich has been released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States and other countries. Our thoughts are with his family as they will soon be reunited with him after 15 months of wrongful detention," Foster said.

" I know I speak for all Evan’s former teachers, his classmates, and the entire Princeton Public Schools community when I share our joy of his return home to the United States and his family."

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