[16][19] On March 29, 2023, while Gershkovich was on assignment in Yekaterinburg, the counterintelligence department of the Federal Security Service (FSB) detained him for having information on a "Russian defence enterprise".
[25] He was accused of acting on behalf of foreign intelligence and attempting to collect classified information about Uralvagonzavod, the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world, in Yekaterinburg.
[citation needed] United States ambassador to Russia Lynne M. Tracy met with Gershkovich on April 17 and wrote that he is "in good health and remains strong".
[32] A judge denied his appeal and rejected an offer from The Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Company to post a bond of 50,000,000 ₽ (US$600,000).
[43][44] In a subsequent interview, Andrei Mineyev, the judge who handled the case, said that the court did not look into material evidence, adding that neither the prosecution nor the defense had requested to consider them, and that the verdict did not take too long as he could "type quickly".
[46] On April 27, 2023, the Biden administration sanctioned Russia's Federal Security Service and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization, accusing them of wrongfully detaining Americans.
[49] On April 10, 2023, the US State Department officially designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained",[50] meaning his case will be transferred to the office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
[56] A coalition of leaders of dozens of media organizations condemned the arrest in a letter sent to Antonov, as did a separate statement from The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Politico, and The Washington Post.
[58] Conservative columnist Bret Stephens stated that Putin would benefit from reading Gershkovich's works to gain an independent assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[59] Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia for carrying hashish oil before being involved in a prisoner exchange with arms dealer Viktor Bout, called for his release.
The WSJ action attracted a storm of criticism from press freedom advocates, human rights groups, and journalist unions and clubs.
[63][64][65] The firm's response was "The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world"[66] On Gershkovich's release, WSJ would publish a full page spread "Welcome Home, Evan.
In his first story for The Moscow Times in 2019, he brought attention to the non-governmental organization OVD-Info, and relied upon the group mourning Ukrainians killed in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
On YouTube, exiled broadcast journalist Maksim Kurnikov noted that Gershkovich's arrest could harm Russia's overview of the war.
[68] Russian state media reported that the trial of detained US journalist Evan Gershkovich scheduled to be held behind closed doors.
[70] The Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center's Tatiana Stanovaya said that Gershkovich's coverage of the war in Ukraine is likely what attracted authorities' attention.
[71] Reporters Without Borders' Jeanne Cavalier said the arrest appeared to be "a retaliation measure" that was "very alarm(ing) because it is probably a way to intimidate all Western journalists that are trying to investigate aspects of the war on the ground in Russia".
[72] Former CIA Moscow station chief Daniel Hoffman agreed the timing of the arrest was "probably not a coincidence" and was likely ordered to gain leverage in a prisoner exchange.
[75] Another exchange, hypothesized by Andrey Zakharov, would be Gershkovich and Paul Whelan for María Rosa Mayer Muños and Ludwig Gisch (aka Anna Dultseva and Artem Dultsev), who were arrested in Slovenia on charges of spying for Russia in January 2023.
[84][85] After his release, Gershkovich attended Post Isolation Support Activities, a 10-day program offered by the Department of Defense to help former hostages acclimate back to regular life.