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The duo released a rare joint statement on Friday, April 7, calling for his release. Gershkovich was charged with espionage "in the interests of his country," according to Russian state media.
"We strongly condemn the wrongful detention of U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and demand the immediate release of this internationally known and respected independent journalist," Schumer and McConnell said.
Schumer and McConnell accused the Kremlin of denying the U.S. Embassy consular access to Gershkovich. According to the Wall Street Journal, lawyers from the newspaper visited Gershkovich and said he was in good health.
"Let there be no mistake: journalism is not a crime," Schumer and McConnell said. "We demand the baseless, fabricated charges against Mr. Gershkovich be dropped and he be immediately released and reiterate our condemnation of the Russian government’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish independent journalists and civil society voices."
Gershkovich is the first American correspondent to be detained on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has also demanded his release.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 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.
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