The Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich “never stopped reporting” during his harsh imprisonment in Russia. On Thursday, his name appeared where he always prefers to be: as the story's author, rather than the story's subject.
Gershkovitch wrote a first-person account. About the identity of the man behind the Kremlin espionage operation that brought him challenges, and the man who was there when he was released.
“When I was arrested by Russian security forces in 2023 (the first foreign correspondent to be charged with espionage since the Cold War), I never stopped reporting,” Jarshković said, along with several others. I wrote this in an article that included the cooperation of Journal reporters. “After my release, I decided to identify the man who took me and learn more about the spy squad that carried out his orders.”
Mr. Gershkovitch, along with other Wall Street Journal reporters who asked similar questions throughout his nearly 500 days as a prisoner of war, revealed that the “man behind the curtain'' was a Russian counterintelligence agent. Lieutenant General Dmitry Minaev, who heads the bureau, reported. DKRO.
Behind the scenes of the prisoner swap that freed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovic from a Russian prison
On August 1, 2024, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris welcomes Evan Gershkovich, who was released from Russian custody, as he steps off a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, United States. (Kevin Mohat/Reuters)
“It's the very core of Putin's opaque wartime regime. The story of how it got there is much about how Russia's authoritarian regime became embroiled in violent conflict with the West.” ,” Gershkovic wrote.
Gershković said DKRO had accused him of being a CIA operative, a claim that had no evidence and was called ridiculous to his face by the United States, but that Russia had no intention of killing him. He said that was enough to lock him in for a limited time. At the time, the American-born journalist whose parents were Russian immigrants had no idea that he would soon become one of the most famous people in the world.
He was arrested in March 2023 while reporting in Yekaterinburg, the country's fourth largest city. He was eventually taken to the notorious Moscow prison, Lefortovo, where many executions took place during the Great Purges under dictator Joseph Stalin, and which still holds dissidents and suspects to this day. It is a place designed for the purpose of psychological isolation.
“It was in Lefortovo that I understood the power of the shadow forces that took away my freedom,” Gershković writes.
The Journal's report says the secretive DKRO is key to Russian President Vladimir Putin's repressive regime and a lever to bring back figures like convicted Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov and the infamous Weapon. revealed to be behind moves such as arresting Gershkovic, former Marine Paul Whelan, and WNBA player Brittney Griner to create Dealer Victor Bout.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch stands inside a glass cage in a courtroom on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He was released in a prisoner exchange in August. (AP)
Minaev was present on August 1 when Gershkovic, Whelan and many others were released in a large and complex prisoner exchange involving the United States, Russia and Germany.
The plight of Gershkovic, who turned 33 in October, caused a huge stir. media attention He has been mentioned throughout his incarceration, and President Biden mentioned him in his State of the Union address earlier this year.
Journalism community rallies over WSJ's Evan Gershkovic's release of “Champagne in the Newsroom''
He was found guilty of espionage in a closed court in July, sentenced to a predictable 16 years in prison, and released a few weeks later. Now, less than five months later, he's reporting again, and journalists online were delighted to see their colleague's name in print where it belonged.
Gershkovych reported that DKRO employees are highly paid and are considered the Kremlin's “most elite security force.” He revealed that two of his fellow journalists were stalked as an intimidation tactic while working in Vienna and Washington.
Putin's hitman big prize in Russian prison swap: considered 'high-net-worth'
Domestically, the DKRO has arrested hundreds of Russians on charges of espionage, collaboration, and treason in an effort to chill opponents of Putin's regime. The Wall Street Journal report also said the DKRO was behind the purges of the Defense Department, arresting officials on corruption charges, and intelligence officials saying the war had stalled as Russia's invasion of Ukraine stalled. They have warned that they are planning malicious acts overseas to further their efforts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Evgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed head of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, November 18, 2024. (Vyacheslav Prokofiev, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo, via AP)
But the focus is primarily domestic, as the autocrat under Putin is obsessed with spies inside Russia, the report said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“A former Russian intelligence officer described an unusual development: At one point, the president set up a counterintelligence committee to search for collaborators within the ranks of counterintelligence agencies that were looking for collaborators among ordinary Russians. “The Wall Street Journal reported.
