The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) left a blank space on its front page Friday in solidarity to WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for exactly one year.
The editorial board placed the 31-year-old Gershkovich’s byline next to the headline, “His Story Should Be Here,” above a blank page. The back of the newspaper includes a giant photograph of the detained reporter.
Russia arrested Gershkovich on March 30, 2023, after the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused him of “spying in the interests of the American government.”
Today’s @WSJ pic.twitter.com/lFpu1CxFKS
— David J. Lynch (@davidjlynch) March 29, 2024
The reporter worked in Russia on an accreditation issued by the Russian foreign ministry, CBS News reported. His contribution to a WSJ story on the Wagner Group a Russian paramilitary force whose mercenaries are at the “forefront” of the war in Ukraine, and his criticism of Kremlin officials happened shortly before his arrest.
The White House accused the Russian government of “targeting” American citizens through Gershkovich’s “unacceptable” arrest.
“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. (RELATED: Evan Gershkovich Has Detention Extended After Secret Hearing)
The State Department instructed American citizens located in Russia to leave “immediately.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for Gershkovich’s release in April and “strongly condemn[ed]” the action taken by the Russian government.
The Russian government has a long history of detaining American citizens on accusations of espionage and other egregious charges. The government detained Paul Whelan, a former Marine and private security contractor, on espionage charges and Trevor Reed, who has been convicted of endangering Russian police officers and was later released in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson that the U.S. has not “reciprocated” the Russian government’s “gestures of goodwill,” and alleged Gershkovich contained “classified, confidential information.”
“We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them,” Putin told Carlson. “We have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner. However, in theory, we can say that we do not rule out that we can do that. If our partners take reciprocal steps.”