Family of another American journalist held in Russia calls on Biden administration to do more to help

CNN —

When Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was blocked from leaving Russia last June, her family never expected that she would still be in Russian detention more than a year later.

“We were so confident that she would get back to us that I bought Taylor Swift tickets … in June or July … for August 2024,” her husband, Pavel Butorin, told CNN. “Little did we know that she would be arrested and taken away from us.”

Kurmasheva, a longtime journalist for US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), had gone back to Russia to see her mother in May 2023. According to Butorin, when she attempted to leave Russia and return home to Prague in early June, she was briefly detained at the airport and her passports were taken. She was fined and placed under de facto — and then formal — house arrest for months.

Then, in October 2023, while awaiting the return of her passports, Kurmasheva was arrested and charged by the Russian authorities, who claimed she was a foreign agent. They opened up another case against her in December, claiming that she had disseminated “fake news” about the Russian Army. Her family and her employer have denied these charges.

Now, her family wants the US government to declare her wrongfully detained and treat her case with similar gravity to that of the other American journalist detained in Russia: Evan Gershkovich. A Russian court said Friday that Gershkovich, who has been declared wrongfully detained, was guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The conviction and trial against Gershkovich were decried as a sham.

Butorin, who spoke to CNN prior to Gershkovich’s verdict, also denounced the Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention and called for his immediate