(NewsNation) — American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in a Russian prison since last year and is now set to stand trial.
Gershkovich, 32, is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about a facility in an area that produces and repairs military equipment, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.
Gershkovich was detained while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of spying for the United States. The reporter, his employer and the U.S. government denied the allegations, and Washington designated him as wrongfully detained, according to Associated Press reports.
Paul Beckett, assistant editor of the Wall Street Journal, joined “NewsNation Now” Friday, where he weighed in on what it might take to bring Gershkovich home.
“Russia is interested in the return of a security services assassin who’s currently in jail in Germany,” Beckett said. “We would obviously hope that as part of any swap, it would be both Evan and Paul Whelan who could be brought back to their families.”
The Biden administration has sought to negotiate his release, but Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow would consider a prisoner swap only after a verdict in his trial, according to the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.