Tucker Carlson Asks Putin To Release Journalist Evan Gershkovich From Russian Prison

The Wall Street Journal reporter was detained in Russia last March on suspicion of espionage.

During a wide-ranging conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that was released on Thursday, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson made a direct plea for journalist Evan Gershkovich’s release from a Russian prison.

Gershkovich, a reporter covering Russia for The Wall Street Journal, was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, accused of espionage, an allegation that U.S. officials have called “baseless.”

But during the interview, Putin pushed back when Carlson said the 32-year-old writer was just a journalist and “obviously not a spy.”

“You know, you can give a different interpretation to what constitutes a spy,” the Russian leader said before claiming, without evidence, that Gershkovich was proved to be a foreign agent. Putin said the journalist was “caught red-handed” receiving confidential information.

Putin went on to say, though, that he was open to negotiating a deal with the U.S. to return Gershkovich “to his motherland.”