When the Wall Street Journal reported that Evan Gershkovich had been arrested over a year ago and placed in a Russian prison, his colleagues at the paper and his family were shocked. This led to a concerted effort to secure his release, along with other Americans detained in Russia, which culminated in Thursday’s news of a major prisoner exchange involving multiple countries.
“There was a lot of speculation, but we only began to celebrate once we knew he had set foot on the ground in Ankara, Turkey,” said Paul Beckett, assistant editor at the Wall Street Journal, in an interview with Scripps News. “Knowing that he was no longer in Russian custody was an incredible moment.”
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Beckett has dedicated the last nine months to working full-time in any way possible to secure Gershkovich’s release. He had previously served as the Washington Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.
The prisoner exchange that Gershkovich was a part of is the largest between Russia and Western nations since the Cold War, granting freedom to several prominent individuals on both sides.
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In return for the released prisoners, Russia received eight individuals held in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland.
One of the key figures in the Russian side of the exchange was Vadim Krasikov, a convicted killer and assassin described by U.S. officials as a significant player in the deal. Krasikov had been serving a life sentence in Germany for a high-profile murder in a Berlin park in 2019.
“We can only hope that this historic event will serve as a turning point and help discourage this kind of practice in the future,” Beckett remarked.
For the full interview with Beckett, watch the video above.
