AMERICAN journalist Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March 2023.

His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, are set to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Who is Evan Gershkovich?

Evan Gershkovich was born in 1991 in New York City.

The 32-year-old American journalist and reporter covers Russia for The Wall Street Journal.

In March 2023, he was arrested in Russia on alleged spying charges.

Evan was accused of alleged espionage and detained by the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

“It was established that E. Gershkovich, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,” the FSB said in a statement at the time.

“While trying to obtain secret information, the foreigner was detained in Yekaterinburg.”

Who are Evan Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich?

Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich have defended their son and are hoping for his freedom.

As The Wall Street Journal reported, the couple will attend President Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Washington, DC, as guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

They “will also meet with Johnson ahead of time, along with other guests, as the first anniversary of their son’s detainment approaches.” 

“We are grateful to Speaker Johnson for inviting us to attend the State of the Union and for providing the opportunity to highlight Evan’s wrongful detention,” Ella and Mikhail said.

“We’re also grateful to President Biden for his continued work on Evan’s behalf. Evan is an American, and he was doing his job as a journalist. He is most importantly a beloved son and brother, and we want him home.”

“By hosting Evan’s parents, Congress will shine a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son,” Johnson said.

“The United States must always stand for freedom of the press around the world, especially in places like Russia, where it is under assault. The Administration must bring Evan home.”

“We welcome the continued bipartisan support of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, from President Biden, Speaker Johnson and members of Congress from across the country,” Almar Latour, chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of the Journal, said.

“They have recognized what we have stated unequivocally since day one—Evan is a journalist, and journalism is not a crime.”

As The Wall Street Journal noted, US Congress members “often bring notable guests to accompany them to State of the Union addresses.”

Where is Evan Gershkovich now?

As of March 2024, Evan is still imprisoned in Russia.

Prior to his arrest, he was assigned to the Journal’s Moscow bureau and “was on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals, roughly 880 miles east of Moscow,” The Washington Post reported.

The Journal has “forcefully denied the allegations as baseless,” and US officials have spoken of their attempts to persuade Russian officials to release Evan.

According to the White House, Gershkovich is “wrongfully detained.”