Biden on anniversary of Evan Gershkovich’s detainment: ‘I will never give up hope’

On the one-year anniversary of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s detainment in Russia, President Joe Biden on Friday said that he will continue working “every day” to secure the journalist’s release.

“Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter — risking his safety to shine the light of truth on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement sent by the White House. He added: "As I have told Evan’s parents, I will never give up hope either.”

Biden called Gershkovich’s detainment “wholly unjust and illegal.” He also promised to keep working to bring home Paul Whelan, a former Marine who is detained in Russia, and “all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.”

Biden also named Gershkovich and Whelan during his State of the Union address earlier this month, saying the administration would work “around the clock” to bring them back from Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Biden in his own statement, adding that "Russia has provided no evidence of wrongdoing for a simple reason: Evan did nothing wrong."

"In the year since Evan’s wrongful detention, Russia’s already restrictive media landscape has become more oppressive, with a continued assault against independent voices targeting any form of dissent," Blinken said in a statement. He added: "People are not bargaining chips. Russia should end its practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals for political leverage and should immediately release Evan and Paul."

In a joint statement, Congress' top four leaders said they will "continue to condemn his baseless arrest, fabricated charges, and unjust imprisonment."

"The Kremlin’s attempts to silence Evan and intimidate other Western reporters will not impede the pursuit of truth,” wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Friday’s Wall Street Journal front page was starkly empty to mark the anniversary, with a banner headline reading: “His story should be here.” The newsroom also hosted a 24-hour public “read-a-thon” of Gershkovich’s stories.

In an interview with POLITICO published Friday, Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour said “until he’s out, not enough has been done by anyone, and that goes for all of us.” Latour also expressed optimism that Gershkovich would at some point be released.

“That said, the outcome is sort of binary: He’s either free or he’s not. And so if the question is, ‘Has enough been done?’ Well, we’ll know that when he walks free,” Latour said.