Evan Gershkovich Publishes Book 2 Years After Release, Detailing 16-Month Russian Ordeal
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Evan Gershkovich Publishes Book 2 Years After Release, Detailing 16-Month Russian Ordeal
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Summary
Two years after a U.S.-Russian prisoner swap won his freedom, Evan Gershkovich says he is ready to publicly discuss the psychological damage of his 16 months in a Russian prison.
The 34-year-old former Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent describes nightmares, panic attacks and flashes of anger that lingered long after release, saying Russian authorities spared him their worst physical torture but left deep mental scars.
Gershkovich was seized by FSB agents in Yekaterinburg in March 2023 while reporting on Russia’s military-industrial capacity and says he was held on trumped-up espionage charges to be used as leverage for a Russian agent’s release.
His book, “This Cursed Beautiful Land,” is being published Tuesday as both a captivity memoir and a broader portrait of Russians living under what he calls Vladimir Putin’s increasingly repressive system.