Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained by Russia for more than a year before being freed in a massive prisoner swap in 2024, spoke to "Fox & Friends" about his arrest in Russia.Gershkovich discussed his new book, "This Cursed Beautiful Land," a firsthand account of the ordeal."I and a colleague of mine were reporting on basically how Russia was prepping to defend.They were changing their economy to a military footing, and I was meeting with a source of a colleague of mine who we thought was legitimate.
We had been speaking to him for four years at that point and it turned out it was a setup," Gershkovich told "Fox & Friends," describing how he ended up being wrongfully detained.Host Brian Kilmeade pointed to an excerpt in the book that described Gershkovich's realization that the men arresting him were from the FSB, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, and not just police.Journalist Evan Gershkovich poses for a portrait in Washington, D.C., on Sept.30, 2026.
(AFP via Getty Images)"At that moment, when you hear FSB, you understand that, as I write, it's not a misunderstanding," Gershkovich said."When it's the FSB, you understand it's a high-level planned operation.
And I'm taken out in a hood to a van, asked who I work for, I say the Wall Street Journal, the hood comes back on, my midsection is pummeled by the security agents, hood comes back off, they ask who I work for, and that's when it dawns on me, that OK they're accusing me of espionage."He said he was "obviously" scared at that point, and said, "When I get to the station, they just calmly hand me my charges and they tell me I'm accused of espionage," Gershkovich said."And there's also this moment that obviously the, the source, Pavel, stepping away out into the crowd.At that point I realized, oh, this was a setup and this was a setup for a swap, clearly," he continued.US MARINE VETERAN RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON AFTER 1,666 DAYS OF DETENTIONJournalist Evan Gershkovich ar...