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Gershkovich, who grew up in Princeton, was allegedly trying to obtain classified information, and was detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia's Federal Security Service said Thursday, March 30.
Gershkovich, who played soccer for Bowdoin College, is the first American correspondent to be detained on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. In 1986, U.S. News and World Report reporter Nicholas Daniloff was arrested by the KGB.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the WSJ said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
According to the WSJ, Gershkovich has worked as a reporter in Russia since 2017. He previously worked at the Moscow Times, Agence France-Presse, and as a news assistant for the New York Times.
Gershkovich was the captain of the Princeton High School's soccer team and earned four varsity letters before graduating in 2010, the same year his team won New Jersey Group III State Champion. He was listed as as third-team all-state in 2009.
The athlete played club soccer for Princeton Union, where he helped to lead the team to the New Jersey State Championship and Region I Semifinals in 2007, Bowdoin's athletics department said.
Gershkowitz's Instagram page shows he played in a Russian club hockey team and in his free time, enjoyed touring the country.
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