Biden vowed to continue working to free journalist Evan Hershkovich, accusing Russia of trying to use US citizens "as bargaining chips"

On the anniversary of the detention of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Hershkovich in Russia, US President Joe Biden promised to continue working on his return to his homeland.

“Journalism is not a crime, and Evan traveled to Russia, doing his job as a reporter and risking his safety, to shine a light on the truth about Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement posted on the White House website.

The president also promised that the United States would continue to condemn Russia's "horrific attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips." According to Biden, Washington would continue to respond to these actions by Russia. "We will vigorously confront anyone who attacks the press and harass journalists," he added.

In his address, the US president also mentioned another US citizen who is imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan . Biden promised that the US “will not stop working to bring them home.”

• In late March 2023, The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code). He has been in the Lefortovo pretrial detention center since early April. The court regularly extends the journalist's arrest.
• According to the FSB, Gershkovich allegedly collected secret information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex "on instructions from the American side." The journalist denies the charges.
• At the end of February, it became known that Gershkovich, together with the leader of the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny, could have been exchanged for Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a sentence in Berlin and was convicted of murder. The exchange did not take place due to Navalny's death in the penal colony.
• On March 29, The Wall Street Journal came out with a blank white page, where Gershkovich's article should have been. Other Western publications also published articles on the anniversary of the journalist's arrest.