The last time a foreign correspondent was taken on fabricated espionage charges in Russia was in the late 1980s.
Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict1 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
The sources agree the last foreign correspondent espionage case in Russia was in the Soviet era, the Daniloff arrest, but they date it to 1986 (mid-1980s), not the late 1980s the claim states. The post's own "late '80s" wording is the claimant's, so the claim matches the passage, and the gap is one of dating rather than the core assertion.
Minor detail. The sources confirm the claim; only a minor detail differs, such as a name's spelling, a title's wording or a rounding.
What was said
… Even Russian journalists were doing amazing investigations at that point, and foreign journalists were treated as kind of like quasi diplomats. If the Kremlin was unhappy with you, you may get your visa not renewed. That wasn't even happening at that point. The last time a foreign correspondent was taken on fabricated espionage charges was in the late '80s, so Soviet period, not even contemporary Russia. Then comes the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I had just started working for the journal, and so then everything we're covering at that point becomes war-related. …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The sources date the Daniloff arrest to 1986 (August 30, 1986 per the Richmond thesis), which is mid-1980s rather than the late 1980s the claim specifies.[1][2][3][4]
Supports. Multiple sources identify Nicholas Daniloff, a U.S. News & World Report correspondent arrested in Moscow on espionage charges, as the last such case before Gershkovich's 2023 arrest.[2][3][4][5]
Context. Gershkovich's own 2026 interview says the last such case was about 40 years before 2023, which is roughly consistent with the early-to-mid 1980s and does not clearly support 'late 1980s'.[6]
Context. Commentary describes the Daniloff case as a Soviet-era entrapment or false charge, which supports the 'fabricated' element of the claim.[3]
Sources
6 sources: 1 primary, 5 not rated
- 1American Journalists Navigating the Soviet Union, 1980-1991scholarship.richmond.edu · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 2Reporting is not espionage – but history shows that journalists...theconversation.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3The espionage trial of Evan Gershkovich signals a dangerous new era for journalism in Russianiemanlab.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 4The Unimaginable Horror of a Friend's Arrest in Moscownewyorker.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 5Prisoner of Putinengelsbergideas.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Evan Gershkovich, WSJ reporter jailed by Putin: 'They didn' ...english.elpais.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
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