By Donald Gilpin

Evan Gershkovich

In Washington, D.C.; in diplomatic and journalistic circles throughout the world; and also at Princeton High School (PHS), particularly among soccer alumni, outrage and concern are running high over last week’s arrest in Russia of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a 2010 PHS graduate.

On April 3, a Moscow court reported that Gershkovich’s lawyers had filed an appeal against his arrest, but no date for a hearing on the appeal has been set, according to the Associated Press. Gershkovich’s arrest was, according to published reports, the first arrest of a foreign journalist for spying in Russia since the end of the Cold War more than 30 years ago.

Gershkovich was accused, without evidence, by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. The Wall Street Journal has strongly denied the FSB allegations and demanded Gershkovich’s immediate release.

At a hearing last Thursday in Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court, Gershkovich was ordered to pretrial custody in Lefortovo Prison until May 29. He could face up to 20 years in jail.

President Joe Biden, in a response to White House reporters on Friday, urged Russia to release Gershkovich immediately. His message to Moscow was, “Let him go.”  Secretary of State Anthony Blinken echoed that message on Sunday in a phone call to his Russian counterpart, and U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday asserted that the Biden administration was urgently pursuing Gershkovich’s release. “We will do everything we can to get Evan home,” Kirby said.

A March 30 letter to Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly I. Antonov, signed by leaders of dozens of the most prominent media organizations from around the world, expressed their “deep concern” over the arrest and called for Gershkovich’s immediate release.

Asserting that Gershkovich “is a journalist and not a spy,” the letter went on to state: “Gershkovich’s unwarranted and unjust arrest is a significant escalation in your government’s anti-press actions. Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law.”

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) issued the following statement on Thursday: “The detention of Evan Gershkovich is outrageous and completely unacceptable. He must be safely and immediately returned to his family. I’m working with my colleagues in the New Jersey delegation and the administration to ensure his immediate release.”

A Princeton Public Schools press release on Thursday described “a difficult morning for Princeton High School alumni, particularly the many PHS soccer players who were close to Mr. Gershkovich.” He is “remembered by his peers as being an outstanding student and an exceptional athlete during his time at Princeton High School,” the statement added.

“It’s been a rough few days since this happened,” said PHS head soccer coach and physical education teacher Wayne Sutcliffe in a Monday phone conversation.  He described Gershkovich, who played varsity soccer at PHS for four years and captained the 2009 state championship team, as “an extraordinary person, a great guy to be around. Very bright — a great storyteller — with a great sense of humor.”

He continued, “As a young person he had a global perspective on things. His parents were Russian so he spoke fluent Russian. He brought more of his background and shared more of that background than most kids could do.”

Sutcliffe emphasized Gershkovich’s unusual intelligence. “Number one is his intellect,” said Sutcliffe.“He was a very cerebral soccer player. He had a high soccer IQ and high ability to match that IQ. That was apparent for all the years he played for us.”

Sutcliffe said he had received numerous text messages over the past few days from PHS soccer alumni who are trying to find a way to help Gershkovich and to support his family.

After PHS, Gershkovich went on to Bowdoin College in Maine, where he continued to play soccer and majored in philosophy, graduating in 2014. Since 2017 he has been living in Russia and reporting on Russia, working for the Moscow Times and Agence France-Press before joining the Wall Street Journal in January 2022.

A March 31 article by New Yorker writer Joshua Yaffa, a friend of Gershkovich who first met him in Moscow in 2017, described him as “full of ideas, hustle, and smarts.” Yaffa noted that Gershkovich, as a reporter for the Moscow Times, “often scooped the rest of the Western press corps.” Yaffa added, “Above all, Evan is a hell of a reporter, industrious and energetic.”

Yaffa observed that during the past five years Russia had become increasingly repressive, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ”what had been a gradual process of shrinking freedoms took on new speed.”

Gershkovich temporarily left Russia along with many other journalists, but went back last summer to continue his reporting for the Wall Street Journal, telling the stories that “needed to be told,” according to a colleague quoted in the New York Times.

Among Gershkovich’s stories that may have triggered the Russian authorities was a December report, which he co-authored, in the Wall Street Journal on “Putin’s decision-making and overall awareness of the truth of what was happening in Ukraine,” according to Yaffa. Another article that Gershkovich co-authored appeared in the Journal on March 28, bearing the headline “Russia’s Economy Is Starting to Come Undone” and pointing out the negative effects of the war in Ukraine on almost all facets of Russia’s economy.

Thatcher Foster, a 2010 PHS graduate, soccer teammate, and friend of Gershkovich, has, along with a number of other former teammates, kept up his close ties over the 13 years since graduation. “For us, Evan was doing important work, but first and foremost he is just our really witty, smart friend,” said Foster. 

He continued, “Wherever he was in the world in the past few years we constantly maintained those lines of communication and friendship, and when he would visit we would all congregate. What’s really amazing to see is all these people from our high school and from the community who remember Evan as Evan, not as a national incident.” 

Foster went on to describe qualities that made Evan an outstanding reporter as well as an outstanding friend.  “He’s incredibly passionate and engaged, and he really loved Russia,” said Foster. “We were always impressed but not surprised at how important his work was and how much he loved his life in Moscow. He had an amazing network of friends there, and they were all reporters together. We were proud of him and the work he was doing. We would always brag about his work and his intrepid spirit to always see things through.”

Foster and other soccer teammates and friends have created a website, freegershkovich.com, which contains outlets to reach out to family, stay updated, and even write letters to Gershkovich. There is also a Google Group, friendsofevangershkovich@gmail.com, that is being used to send out updates and reminders. Supporters can send an email to be added to the distribution list to stay up to date and learn ways to help.