Journalist claims Russia's FSB staged his arrest and prepared a backup trap

Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for one outlet, told a recent interview that his capture in March 2023 in Jekaterinburg was not spontaneous but a pre-arranged ambush by Russia’s security service, the FSB. While probing the country’s tank-manufacturing sector, he met union chief Pavel Sergienyan, who handed him hand-copied files, after which men in civilian clothes identified as FSB officers detained him and later accused him of spying.

Following his release in a prisoner exchange in August 2024, Gershkovich collaborated with investigative journalist Christo Grozevin, who accessed intercepted messages from Russian intelligence operatives indicating that the FSB had also set up a secondary trap in Novosibirsk in case the Jekaterinburg operation failed. Gershkovich assessed that the FSB deliberately lured him into a situation that could be framed as espionage, and he said President Vladimir Putin had endorsed the agency’s interpretation of the case.

He maintains he was accredited as a reporter and never acted as an intelligence operative. The revelations underscore concerns about the safety of foreign journalists in Russia.