Polygraph

Evan Gershkovich was held in Lefortovo prison.

Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
6 support
Said
1 time·
Confidence
92%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
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Multiple independent reliable sources state that Evan Gershkovich was held at Lefortovo prison in Moscow during his pretrial detention, including AP (2024), the Washington Post (2023) and the BBC (2026). The claim faithfully reflects the passage, which describes his own transfer to Lafortovo.

What was said

… Ah, to put it mildly. And I didn't have anything to do with it, unless, right, you know, I just had my charges handed to me, told I was accused of espionage, brought to Moscow, never really interrogated. I was brought to Lafortovo, ah, which is Russia's most, you know, high profile, notorious prison. The difficulty there is that it's sort of psychologically difficult. It's really isolating. It's really small cells. You're with one cellmate only. …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. The AP reports that after each court session Gershkovich returned to Lefortovo, and the Washington Post reports he was detained at Lefortovo while awaiting trial.[1][2]

Supports. The BBC states Gershkovich was held in Moscow's infamous Lefortovo jail, and the Times and DW both report he was held there for more than a year before his trial.[3][4][5]

Supports. The AFP reports that most of his time behind bars was spent in the Lefortovo high-security prison in Moscow.[6]

Context. The passage is the claimant's own account of being taken to Lafortovo; it is used only to resolve the referent, and the claim matches it.

Sources

6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 2, 1 tier 1, 3 not rated

  1. 1US journalist marks a year in a Russian prison as courts keep extending his time behind barsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
  2. 2Inside Lefortovo, the Russian jail holding journalist Evan ...washingtonpost.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  3. 3'I was lured into a trap': Evan Gershkovich on moment that ...bbc.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports
  4. 4My 491 days as Putin's political prisonerthetimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  5. 5Russia prisoner swap: The long ordeal of Evan Gershkovichdw.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  6. 6Panic, anger, tears: Evan Gershkovich's uneasy journey after Russian jailafp.com · not rated · cited for: supports

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