When Brittney Griner was unjustly imprisoned by Russia, there was a righteous uproar, which led — eventually — to a prisoner exchange program and her release. But Griner was not the only American detained by Putin's Neo-fascist state.

Evan Gershkovich's parents were part of the Soviet Jewish emigration wave in the 1970s. He was born in New York, eventually becoming a journalist. In 2022, he started working for the Wall Street Journal, covering Russia's attack of Ukraine. On March 29, 2023, he was detained for supposed espionage. It was the first time an American journalist has been imprisoned by the Russians since the Cold War.

It's pretty clear that Russia is reverting to those times, becoming a closed, insulated society like the days of the Soviet Union. Free press? There is no such thing; Russian outlets that try to report the truth are getting shutdown, and now an American journalist is imprisoned on trumped-up charges.

Hopefully, the American government will repeat what it did with Griner and rescue Gershkovich. As for other journalists:

Please stay the fuck out of Russia.

(Editor's update, August 1, 2024: Welcome home!)