Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich Was Released From A Russian Prison On August 1, 2024
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Wall Street Journal Reporter Has Being Released From A Russian Prison
I recently wrote about Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
He was released from a Russian prison in a prisoner exchange.
Also released were Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who won a Pulitzer Prize from columns he wrote in his prison cell, and Alsu Kurmasheva.
He should never have been kidnapped by Putin in the first place.
His release was joyous, but as a friend of his at The Guardian writes:
I knew, too, that those 70 weeks in prison would be time that this young man could not reclaim – and that these long months of fear and uncertainty would haunt him. I also knew that the prisoner exchange that made this possible was far from ideal. As CNN’s Matthew Chance put it, it was, by no means, a “like for like” swap, but rather an exchange of criminals for innocents caught up in Vladimir Putin’s power-hungry designs.
Here Evan is being taken to the plane. He looks stunned. The commentary is in Russian.
Evan Gershkovich and the other released prisoners were greeted by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Evan Gershkovich speaking to reporters.
Gershkovich is originally from Princeton, New Jersey. His hometown is thrilled!
Prisoner Exchange Had Been In The Works For Months
A major prisoner exchange had been in the works for a long time (before Gershkovich was captured), which was also to include the late Alexei Navalny.
According to The Associated Press:
Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but after his death in February ultimately stitched together a 24-person deal that required significant concessions from European allies, including the release of a Russian assassin, and secured freedom for a cluster of journalists, suspected spies, political prisoners and others
Thank you, President Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and all the other members of the Biden Administration who spent two years working on releasing hostages!
Further Reading
Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II by Robert Matzen | Book Review
State of the Blog Address 2024
Heronfield by Dorothy Balchin | Book Review
Marie: A True Story by Peter Maas | Book Review
How the Good Guys Finally Won: Notes From An Impeachment Summer by Jimmy Breslin | Book Review
All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein | Book Review
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich | Book Review
and some other book reviews:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith | Book Review
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp | Book Review
Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman | Book Review
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath | Book Review
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker | Book Review
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | Book Review
and check out my other blog:
The Famous Sunnybank Collies | Wayne, New Jersey
March For Our Lives in Morristown!
Delicious Orchards 2023 | Colts Neck, New Jersey
First Presbyterian Church of Oxford at Hazen and the Spooky Graveyard 2023 | Belvidere, New Jersey
The Historic Cooper Gristmill | Chester Township, New Jersey
The Little Red Schoolhouse | Florham Park, New Jersey
Clara Barton Schoolhouse | Bordentown, New Jersey
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital Is About To Be Torn Down 2015 | Morris Plains, New Jersey
Thank you for reading The Literary Lioness!
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