On the first anniversary of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, President Joe Biden said the US is working every day to secure his release. Gershkovich, his employers and the White House all vehemently reject the spying accusations, saying he was an honest journalist doing his job. "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 on Friday, March 29.

Gershkovich was arrested while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains region city of Yekaterinburg. The Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, alleges he was acting on US orders to collect state secrets but provided no evidence to support the accusation, which he, the Journal and the US government have denied. The US government has declared that Gershkovich is wrongfully detained, meaning it effectively regards him as a political hostage.

On Friday, there was a giant blank space on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, with an image at the top of the page of Gershkovich in the newspaper's signature pencil drawing and a headline that read: "His Story Should be Here."

A recent court hearing offered little new information on Gershkovich's case. He was ordered to remain behind bars pending trial at least until June 30, the fifth extension of his detention.

Biden said in his statement that he would never give up. "We will continue working every day to secure his release," the president said. "We will continue to denounce and impose costs for Russia’s appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips. And we will continue to stand strong against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists – the pillars of free society."

'Unimaginable'

"We never anticipated this situation happening to our son and brother, let alone a full year with no certainty or clear path forward," his family said in a letter to the readers of the Wall Street Journal. In their letter, Gershkovich's parents, Mikhail and Ella, and sister Danielle described the past year as "unimaginable." "It has felt like holding our breath," the family wrote. "We have been living with a constant ache in our hearts thinking about Evan every moment of every day."

The family, who has met with Biden, thanked the US government, the Journal, Gershkovich's friends and well-wishers for working towards his release and for their support. "Throughout all the challenges in this tumultuous time we've watched as Evan has faced this uncertainty, stuck in a small cell, with limited news of the world, without his freedom."

Biden said that the US was working to free all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. "To Evan, to Paul Whelan, and to all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad: We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring you home," Biden said, referencing the case of a former US marine, who was working in security for a US vehicle parts company in Russia. He was arrested in 2018 in Russia and sentenced two years later to 16 years in prison. Whelan, who said he traveled to Moscow to attend a friend’s wedding, has maintained his innocence and said the charges against him were fabricated. The US government has also denied his charges.