Evan Gerskovich's Parents Escaped From Russia Before He Was Born — He's Now Imprisoned There
President Biden said Evan was "targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American."
Published July 19 2024, 3:29 p.m. ET
In March 2024, Evan Gershkovich's parents spoke with ABC News one year after their son was arrested in Russia. The Wall Street Journal reporter was covering the "Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has taken part in some of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine," when he was detained, per the BBC.
Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman were hopeful their son would soon be home, but a July 2024 guilty conviction undoubtedly deflated them. Here's what we know about his parents, as well as what Russia believes he did.
Evan Gershkovich's parents escaped Russia over 40 years ago.
It was no accident that Gershkovich was working in Russia. After all, he's the son of two Russian immigrants. Mikhail and Ella fled their home country in 1979 due to the rampant antisemitism they faced as Jewish people living in the Soviet Union, reported the Wall Street Journal. Though they did this separately, they managed to find each other in America.
The couple met in New York while working as computer programmers at the same company. They eventually moved to Princeton, N.J. where they raised Evan and his sister Danielle as American-born but culturally Russian, which is how they viewed themselves. They ate Russian food, watched Russian programs, and even spoke Russian at home.
Is Evan Gershkovich married?
By all accounts, Evan is single, but he has many friends supporting him from all over the world. When his incarceration hit the one-year mark, the Wall Street Journal spoke to his closest friends who lamented the year of his life he had lost.
Evan's friends fill him in on all the big and small things happening in their lives via letters. One of his friends is Pjotr Sauer, a reporter at The Guardian who lives in London. He told Pjotr this was going to be his year of sports. His photo was included at a wedding Evan was supposed to attend. They are trying to keep him with them.
What did Evan Gerhkovich do?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Evan was falsely accused of "gathering information about a Russian defense contractor on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency" while working in Yekaterinburg, which is about 900 miles east of Moscow. He was charged with espionage.
In a secret trial that took place in July 2024, Evan was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony. President Biden said Evan was "targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American," and has promised to keep advocating for his release.
