How the U.S. Negotiated Evan Gershkovich’s Freedom

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2024

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Summary

Russia freed wrongfully convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and more than a dozen others on Thursday as part of the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War. WSJ’s Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw report on the effort to bring Gershkovich home. Further Listening: -Russia Tries a WSJ Reporter in a Secret Court -Two Parents on a Crusade to Free Their Son Further Reading: -Inside the Secret Negotiations to Free Evan Gershkovich -WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Is Free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This morning I rushed into the Wall Street Journal newsroom.
0:09.0	It's official.
0:11.0	Well, we've sent out a note saying everybody come.
0:14.6	As we started getting details,
0:16.8	confirming that our reporter, Evan Gerschkovic,
0:19.9	was about to walk free after 70 weeks in Russian prisons.
0:24.3	Today he's out of the plane.
0:30.9	Today he's finally coming home.
0:35.0	I think this is a historic day for the Wall Street Journal.
0:44.0	People cheered, cried, hugged, and our editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker addressed the room.
0:51.0	Okay, I genuinely, I kind't even know what to say to you.
0:55.0	It actually feels like a...
1:00.0	It feels like a... It feels like an out-of-body experience because we've all been waiting for this moment for such a long time.
1:11.0	I'm sure everybody, you know we've all fantasized in our heads and I'm
1:19.0	sure the person who fantasized most was
1:23.8	freeed as part of the largest and most complex
1:27.4	east-west prisoner swap since the Cold War.
1:31.8	Our colleagues Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson have spent months following the delicate
1:37.2	negotiations that led to this moment.
1:40.6	You could say this is the most complicated prisoner swap in modern American history.
1:46.0	You've got citizens of six or seven different countries being flown from all over Europe.
1:52.0	You've got Americans coming out of three different
	...

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