It’s now a year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (left) was detained in Yekaterinburg – the place where the Romanovs met their grisly end at the hands of the Bolsheviks – accused of espionage by the Russian authorities. He’s detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison and so far, mercifully, has survived, unlike some other victims of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The WSJ and agency Mother in New York and London are marking the anniversary with a series of events drawing attention to his plight, headed by a campaign ‘Missing Articles,’ highlighting what he should have been doing.
The hope is that Gershkovich will be be swapped for one or more Russian miscreants.
Accredited journalists, which Gershkovich was, used to be pretty immune from such dangers. No such luck these days. The BBC’s long-serving Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg deserves a medal.