Letters to Evan: The campaign to release Evan Gershkovich

In this episode, Lana talks to the Financial Times correspondent Polina Ivanova about the arrest of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges by Russian authorities, and the inspiring campaign for his release.It has been ten months since the arrest of US citizen Evan Gershkovich, whose parents emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Evan is being held at the notorious Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre, isolated from his loved ones and awaiting a trial date. He has been charged with espionage, a ludicrous claim denied by Evan and everyone close to him. His only ‘crime’ is writing the objective truth about Russian politics - from Covid and corruption to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the Biden administration is negotiating a deal behind closed doors as part of a prisoner swap with Russian authorities, Evan’s friends and family are doing everything in their power to bring his release forward and keep his spirits up. Polina talks about the ‘letters to Evan’ initiative that oversees hundreds of letters written to Gershkovich by friends and strangers. She also touches upon the current conditions of her friend and whether a change in US government will make any difference to the negotiations.