In March 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Evan Gershkovich, a young reporter for the Wall Street Journal, sat down with a source in an empty restaurant 900 miles east of Moscow. Within moments, a squad of masked FSB agents charged in, blindfolded Evan, and dragged him into an unmarked van. Evan had become the first western journalist since the Cold War arrested by Russia on espionage charges. He became an innocent pawn in a geopolitical chess match played at the very highest levels of global power.Â