Russia is using American journalists as pawns on its geopolitical chessboard 

Nothing says authoritarianism more than the imprisonment of journalists — and the Russian government is perfecting the practice.  

The recent conviction and sentencing of an American journalist in a Russian court was understandably lost in the American news agenda by the deluge of domestic political news. But the circumstances surrounding Alsu Kurmasheva are noteworthy and deserve the attention of freedom-loving people around the world. 

Kurmasheva is a Russian-American journalist who works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. government-funded media service designed to provide news to regions in which information doesn’t flow freely. Russia would be at the top of such a list. Kurmasheva was based in Prague, but was first apprehended by Russian authorities last fall when she visited her mother inside Russia.  

Kurmasheva was charged with spreading false information about the Russian military. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has called for her release, saying her jailing is “a mockery of justice.” The Department of State in Washington last week said it “remains focused” on her case.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has also been sentenced by a Russian court, getting 16 years on charges of espionage. The Journal issued a statement calling the decision a “disgraceful sham conviction.”  

Gershkovich and Kurmasheva are the first two American journalists imprisoned in Russia in almost 40 years, since the Cold War. They are among 11 Americans overall known to be in Russian captivity. 

Reporters Without Borders is an international organization dedicated to protecting the interests and rights of journalists around the world. The organization tracks the numbers of journalists being detained by various nations. Russia is listed as having 51 journalists currently in custody, ranking only behind China, Myanmar and Syria. Reporters Without Borders is conducting a petition campaign calling on the U.S. State Department to officially designate Kurmasheva as being “wrongfully detained,” a move that might spark a broader U.S. effort to secure her release.  

Russia’s hostage-taking of American journalists is an insult to the United States, of course, but also an affront to the civilized world generally. Kurmasheva and Gershkovich are not genuine threats to the Russian government or its war effort in Ukraine. Their seizure is an obvious attempt to intimidate journalists broadly, not to mention internal activists who might support the free flow of information. This heinous practice violates the fundamental principle of human dignity, which is obviously of little concern to Russian authorities.  

It is absolutely heart-wrenching to see the rare, creepy videos released of Kurmasheva and Gerskovich during their “trials,” as they are forced to stand inside glass cages. Even though they are both relatively young, it is clear the condition of their health is in decline. 

The U.S. government has few levers to pull to secure the release of these journalists. The Biden administration went to great lengths to gain the release of women’s professional basketball player Brittney Griner. She was taken into custody in early 2022 and spent nine months in a Russian prison on charges of drug possession. Griner’s freedom was achieved in a prisoner swap for international criminal and arms dealer Viktor Bout, the Russian-born so-called “Merchant of Death.”

Griner is in Paris at the moment representing the U.S. on the Olympic women’s basketball team.

It’s not clear what the U.S. is doing to get Kurmasheva and Gerskovich out of prison, but international diplomacy regarding prisoners is a most delicate matter. It makes sense that the State Department would keep any negotiations out of sight. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that 25 Russian citizens were being held in American federal prisons, but it is unclear if any of them have trade value, so to speak, for the Russian government. 

One thing is certain, however: The U.S. will have to pay a high price to get these journalists released, perhaps even higher than it paid to get Griner out. It is difficult to bargain rationally with a despotic nation such as Russia, one that devalues journalists and uses people as geopolitical pawns. 

Jeffrey M. McCall is a media critic and professor of communication at DePauw University. He has worked as a radio news director, a newspaper reporter and as a political media consultant.