Kremlin Claims It Has ‘Contacts’ with U.S. About Swap for Hostage Journalist Evan Gershkovich

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that American officials have been in contact behind the scenes to work out a prisoner swap deal that might free Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter indicted for espionage on Thursday after being held captive by Russia for more than a year.

“I want to remind you again of the president’s conversation with the heads of information agencies in St. Petersburg – he confirmed that there are such contacts,” Peskov said on Monday, referring to how Russia’s authoritarian President Vladimir Putin claimed on June 5 that the Biden administration was “taking vigorous steps” to work out a deal for Gershkovich.

“But such issues are not resolved through the media. They like a quiet, calm, professional approach and dialogue between intelligence agencies. And, of course, they should be resolved only on the basis of reciprocity,” Putin said on June 5, making it clear that he would demand a heavy ransom for the kidnapped reporter.

Peskov, on Monday, echoed Putin by saying negotiations would be “conducted in complete silence,” without “announcements, statements, or information” provided to the public.

Peskov claimed he could not “comment” on the “court decision” to subject Gershkovich to a secret trial. That unsurprising decision was announced by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg on Monday.

“The process will take place behind closed doors,” the court said, scheduling the first Gershkovich hearing for June 26.

Providing the first meager public details of the charges against the 32-year-old American prisoner, the court said:

According to the investigation authorities, the American journalist of the Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich, on the instructions of the CIA, in March 2023, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of the defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod for the production and repair of military equipment.

Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 while on a reporting trip, becoming the first American journalist arrested in Russia since the end of the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal and U.S. government officials have denounced the charges against him as “ridiculous.” Russia claims he was caught spying “red-handed” but has not revealed a single bit of evidence against him.

The Moscow Times reported that U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Trace was allowed to visit Gershkovich in prison on Monday for the first time in more than two months. On the same day, Russian state media reported that Russian consular officials were granted access to Vladimir Dunaev, an alleged cybercriminal currently held in an American prison.

Dunaev, 40, was arrested in South Korea in September 2021 after the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic stranded him there. He was extradited to the United States the following month, and, in January 2024, he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for his role in developing the Trickbot ransomware scheme. Trickbot ransomware attacked almost one thousand systems worldwide, including hospitals, schools, and businesses, and caused millions of dollars in damages before it was defeated for good in 2022. 

Peskov, on Monday, refused to comment about a connection between Gerskhovich and Dunaev receiving consular visits at the same time.