Freed 'Washington Post' reporter Evan Gershkovich recounts FSB plot behind Russia arrest

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia in 2023, says his arrest was an elaborate FSB sting operation. In an extract from his book "This Cursed Beautiful Land," he recounts two meetings with a factory union boss in Yekaterinburg, where he was handed documents about tank production before masked FSB agents raided the table and arrested him. Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years and freed in an August 2024 prisoner swap. He says the FSB had a backup plan to arrest him in Siberia if the Yekaterinburg operation failed.

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia in 2023, says his arrest was an elaborate sting operation by the FSB. In an extract from his book "This Cursed Beautiful Land," published by the Journal on Friday, he recounts two meetings with a factory union boss in Yekaterinburg. At the second meeting, in a steakhouse, the source handed him papers with hand-copied tables of figures about tank production. As he took notes, masked FSB agents raided the table, arrested him, and placed him in a chokehold. Gershkovich, then 31, was the first US reporter arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. He was sentenced to 16 years and freed in an August 2024 prisoner swap. He says he later learned the FSB had a backup plan to arrest him on a trip to Siberia if the Yekaterinburg operation failed. He believes the meetings were designed to persuade President Putin he was a spy. The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment.