Gershkovich Made a Big Final Ask of Russia

The Wall Street Journal takes an extensive look at the "secret negotiations" that led to "one of the most complicated prisoner swaps in history"—a swap that saw one of its own reporters, Evan Gershkovich, freed from Russian custody along with 15 other people in exchange for eight prisoners released by Western nations. Among the details revealed in the article is Gershkovich's final request from his captors.

As part of the process of being allowed to leave prison, he had to fill out an official request for presidential clemency, addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The reporter wasn't expected to write anything in one long blank space included on the form—the Journal explains prisoners could write something there if they wanted, but it was typically left empty. Instead, he filled it entirely, writing in "formal high Russian." The very last line included his request: for Putin to sit down for an interview with him. (Read the full story at the Journal.)