Evan Gershkovich Pens First Article for Wall Street Journal Since Release From Russian Captivity
Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto via AP
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich wrote his first article for the newspaper on Thursday since his release from Russian captivity in August.
In the article, titled, “Tracking Putin’s Most Feared Secret Agency—From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond,” Gershkovich recalled his experience being traded as part of a Russia-United States prisoner swap this year, and named the man allegedly responsible for his detainment.
“When I was arrested by Russia’s security forces in 2023—the first foreign correspondent charged with espionage since the Cold War—I never stopped reporting,” wrote Gershkovich. “On my release I set out to identify the man who had taken me, and to learn more about the spy unit that had carried out his orders.”
He continued, “Together, we have identified the man behind the curtain as Lt. Gen. Dmitry Minaev and can now reveal a trove of fresh details about the unit that he runs: the Department for Counterintelligence Operations. Known as DKRO, it is at the very core of Putin’s opaque wartime regime.”
Gershkovich and his co-authors Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, and Thomas Grove accused “the goateed Lt. Gen Minaev” of having “a hands-on role in selecting which Americans to arrest, and which Russians to trade them for.”
During the prisoner swap, Gershkovich wrote, Minaev locked eyes with him and “said nothing, staring in silence for nearly a minute,” leaving the Wall Street Journal reporter to “wonder about this man at the helm of the exchange, who appeared to hold my fate in his hands.”
The article was Gershkovich’s first for the Wall Street Journal since his March 29, 2023 piece titled, “Russia’s Economy Is Starting to Come Undone.” Gershkovich was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) that same day.
According to Gershkovich, he and U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were used as “trade bait” in the August 1, 2024 prisoner exchange to secure the release of Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov.
Gershkovich spent just over a year and four months in captivity after he was arrested on charges of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
