U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants’ cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended detention at The Moscow City Court in Moscow on June 22, 2023. (Natalia Kolesnikova, AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — The parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in Russia on espionage charges, revealed that President Joe Biden has vowed he will not rest until their son is back in the United States.
“President Biden spoke to us and gave us a promise to do whatever it takes,” Ella Milman, Gershkovich’s mother, said during an appearance on “Good Morning America.” She added that the president spoke to them “as a parent” and that she and her husband, Mikhail Gershkovich, trust the United States Government is doing everything it can to bring Evan home.
“[H]e told us he understands our pain,” Milman told GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Her comments mark the first since Evan — who covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union for the Journal — was arrested on March 29 in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, about 800 miles east of Moscow. The Federal Security Service, Russia’s top domestic security agency and replacement for the Soviet-era KGB, specifically accused Gershkovich of “acting on U.S. orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in response declared Evan a “wrongfully detained” American citizen while the Wall Street Journal has denied all allegations of espionage.
Last month, a Russian court rejected Evan’s appeal for release, but Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, confirmed during a press conference on Friday that discussions have been launched about a potential prisoner swap.
“There have been discussions,” he told reporters. “But those discussions have not produced a clear pathway to a resolution, and so I cannot stand here today and tell you that we have a clear answer to how we are going to get Evan home.”
Evan has has pleaded not guilty to espionage charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Friday marked his 100th day in Russian custody.
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