Detained In Russia, Parents Of WSJ Reporter Travel To Moscow For Hearing, See Their Son In A Metal Cage

Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich traveled from Philadelphia to Moscow recently in the hope of seeing their youngest son, Evan, in a Moscow courtroom. The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in Russia and is being detained and charged with espionage, the first time Russia has accused an American journalist of spying since the Cold War. 

After waiting outside the courtroom for Evan's hearing to being, they were ushered inside for the close of pretrial proceedings. As the judge delivered the bad news, Gershkovich’s parents couldn’t stop smiling at their son, who stood in a metal cage before them, wrote the WSJ.

“It meant so much to be able to see him, and for him to see us,” said his mother in a phone call to the WSJ. “Any parent who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for five minutes.”

Gershkovich was detained during a reporting trip in March. The Biden administration, his family and the WSJ vehemently deny charges that the 31-year-old reporter was engaged in espionage. 

The last time the journalist’s parents traveled to Russia was in 2018 to visit their son, who had just moved to Moscow to work as a journalist. They themselves had left the Soviet Union in 1979 to settle in the U.S. 

“I have missed just talking to him and being able to see him,” his father said. “I think it’s very important that he’s heard from his friends that we are doing well, and it’s important for him to see us, that we look good.”

Gershkovich’s parents said they were encouraged by how well Evan looked, though his skin is pale at least he was smiling and looked relaxed at the hearing.

Wrongfully Detained

President Biden has called Gershkovich’s detention “totally illegal” and the Department of State formally designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained.”

This was the case with WNBA star Brittney Griner who spent 10 months in prison for possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil. An official U.S. determination of “wrongful detention” opens the door for Washington to devote more resources to pushing for release. This includes immediate consular priority and access to consular officials as well as assurances that detained Americans “are treated in accordance with the law, including human rights law,” according to the State Dept. 

Griner has called on the Biden Administration to "use every tool possible" to free Gershkovich.

Evan Gershkovich's parents in Moscow. Photo from Twitter