For Years, Evan Gershkovich Saw Those He Knew Convicted and Imprisoned in Russia. Now It Has Happened to Him.

Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has been falsely accused of spying by Russian authorities and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony after a secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham. Gershkovich, who has spent over a year in Russian prisons since his detention in March 2023, had dedicated much of his career to reporting on Russia. He was arrested while on a reporting trip and has had limited communication with the outside world. Friends and family send him letters, and glimpses of him have only been seen during court hearings. Gershkovich's interest in Russia was influenced by his parents, who fled the Soviet Union in 1979. He moved to Moscow in 2017 to work as a journalist and quickly settled into life there, forming close friendships and immersing himself in the culture. [Extracted from the article]