Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich chose to advocate for dissidents languishing in Russian prisons, in his first public comments on U.S. soil after he was freed as part of a prisoner exchange.
“I just spent a month in prison in Yekaterinburg where basically everyone I was sat with is a political prisoner,” he added.
Seven Russian citizens, including four who worked with the late opposition figure, Alexey Navalny, were among the the 24 people freed in Thursday’s major multinational prisoner exchange.
On the dissidents he’d met behind bars Gershkovich said no one knew them publicly, but they had various political beliefs.
President Joe Biden called the deal a “feat of diplomacy and friendship.” It was cut among seven nations, involving 24 people, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens held in Russia, and eight Russians imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland.
Persons:
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Organizations:
Guardian, Base Andrews, AP, Getty, Marine
Locations:
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