The US journalist who became Putin's political prisoner | with Evan Gershkovich

About this episode

In 2023, US journalist Evan Gershkovich was meeting a source when he was arrested by the FSB, Russia’s notorious spy agency. It made him the first Western reporter to be held on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. It would take 16 months before he was released in a historic prisoner swap brokered by President Biden - and he is now telling his story. He speaks to Yalda about how the atmosphere in Russia changed for journalists, as the state tightened media controls over the war in Ukraine. And he takes us back to the moment of his arrest, which he describes as being lured into a trap in a classic sting operation. Also, he explains what life was like among political prisoners…