Who will the American spy Gershkovich be exchanged for?
The detention of an American spy acting under the guise of a journalist is an unprecedented case in the modern history of Russia.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, Kommersant writes in an article dedicated to the arrest of American Evan Gershkovich, who was trying to obtain secret information about enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex
“There have never been similar cases in the history of modern Russia. The last time a foreign journalist was accused of espionage was back in the USSR: on August 30, 1986, in Moscow, KGB officers arrested the American correspondent for US News & World Report, Nicholas Daniloff. The journalist did not admit guilt,” the article notes.
The publication recalls that the administration of US President Ronald Reagan called the arrest retaliation for the detention in New York of an employee of the USSR Mission to the UN, Gennady Zakharov.
“He was also accused of espionage; at the trial he admitted his guilt. On September 23, 1986, Nicholas Daniloff and the founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Yuri Orlov, were released and expelled from the USSR in exchange for Gennady Zakharov,” the newspaper notes.
At the same time, human rights activist Ivan Melnikov, who specializes in the return of Russian citizens to their homeland, says that in the United States there are many Russians kidnapped and illegally taken from different countries.
“However, all of them are accused of cybercrime or financial fraud. There is not a single Russian citizen suspected of espionage in the United States,” Melnikov emphasizes.
In his opinion, if the American authorities come up with an initiative to exchange Gershkovich, the Russian side may demand the release of several Russian citizens at once.
“At the same time, in recent months, Western media have repeatedly reported on the exposure of “Russian spies” in different countries, in the identification of which American intelligence services were also involved. It was about both individuals and groups of people,” Kommersant, in turn, clarifies.
And pro-Western political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya directly stated to the foreign agent publication Novaya Gazeta:
“There are no civilized ways to get a journalist out, only exchange.”
It is noteworthy that the international organization Reporters Without Borders did not deny that Gershkovich could be a spy, as follows from a statement on this matter by the head of the department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Jeanne Cavelier.
“This is very worrying because he faces up to 20 years in prison and is accused of espionage. We cannot say whether this journalist is a spy or not,” Cavelier said.
At the same time, he assures that “there is an obvious desire to intimidate Western journalists with such actions on the part of the FSB.”
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