Free Evan: Writing Arsenal updates to fan incarcerated in Russia

Danielle Gershkovich breaks into a smile as she imagines what her younger brother’s perfect birthday would be. “He would love to spend it on the beach with some friends, that would probably be his ideal birthday,” she says. Today, October 26, Danielle’s brother Evan turns 32 years old. Instead of hanging out with his crew, kicking around by the sea, it marks another day incarcerated in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, detained on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government vehemently deny. 

It is day 211 since he was arrested. It is a grim situation — the first time this happened to an overseas journalist since the Cold War — and widely condemned by the international community, with NATO and the European Union joining the White House in demanding his release. Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, Evan’s employer, calls the charges “utter rubbish”.

Trials of this nature in Russia take place in secret and usually result in a conviction of up to 20 years. 

Evan will receive birthday letters from his family and beyond. They are all read, and censored if necessary, by the authorities. The letter exchanges — he can write back — occur weekly. It is, Danielle says, “a lifeline”. “The letters make him feel he is here with us. It makes me feel like I am talking to him. I can hear his voice in my head. When I read his letters, they are in his voice and that keeps me going until I get to hear him.”

Listening to Danielle, who smiles so warmly and tells her stories with such loving positivity, just as her parents do, it is impossible not to wonder how on earth they can keep it together. “I don’t know, either,” she replies. 

Pjotr Sauer is one of Evan’s dear friends. He also writes regularly to Evan with a particular responsibility — to keep him up to date with all things Arsenal. The very first time they met, five years ago, they connected immediately over football. “Right away we bonded because of our love for Arsenal,” he says. “I was surprised. We were working at the Moscow Times and I was not expecting to meet a fellow Gunner, who was an American guy. Evan knew everything about Arsenal.”

They shared that feeling of being a long-distance Arsenal fan who got hooked on the team as a kid — Evan the New Jersey boy, son of Russian emigres, and Pjotr the Dutch boy, who grew up in Russia. “We both started loving Arsenal in the Arsene Wenger era with Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. You pick a team as a kid and it wasn’t hard to choose them even if you weren’t from north London,” says Pjotr. “We both loved their beautiful way of playing.” They then both suffered together during a more challenging period, getting together to watch all of Arsenal’s games when they both lived in Moscow. “We did see Arsenal beginning to get better under Mikel Arteta and we were excited,” he adds.

In 2022, he joined the Wall Street Journal and would split his time between London and trips to Moscow on assignments as a correspondent. 

“When Evan was jailed last March, Arsenal were still top of the league,” Pjotr says. He sent all the messages he could to his friend, who is always eager for updates. After all these years of hoping for his team to win the league, Evan tried to see the upshot of the way things panned out as Arsenal crumbled and missed out on their first title since Evan watched the Invincibles on TV as a teenager. It drove him mad to think they might do it and he would not be there to celebrate in London. Maybe they were waiting for him.

Football has been his passion since boyhood. It was a connector of sorts to his European roots. Danielle fondly remembers how even the sound of it dominated their childhood home.

“I remember him coming home from school and practising against the back of the garage. He would be out there and you would hear it, kick, kick, kick. Football was just all-encompassing. He was five or six years old when he started playing soccer. He took it very seriously. It was always on TV at home, he was always watching the games. I would fight with him about the television and what we got to watch. He would say, ‘I have to watch the game! I have to watch it live!’ I remember him being obsessed with Pele, his first big soccer idol. Later he was into Thierry Henry, which led him to Arsenal.”

Evan’s parents were massively involved in supporting him in his football life. His father, Mikhail, coached the youth team — named Princeton Spartak in homage to the storied club from his birthplace — in which Evan starred. His mother, Ella, drove him across the USA for tournaments. Once she took him all the way to Florida, a road trip of 18 to 20 hours each way. 

Thatcher Foster was one of his team-mates and best mates. There was a group from school who were all crazy about football. “We were the only high schoolers who got up to watch Premier League games that kicked off at 7am and sprinted home from school to watch Champions League games, which kicked off at 3pm. We have so many memories, like John Terry slipping in Moscow,” Thatcher says. “Football was what bonded us and still keeps us bonded.”

They had Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Fulham supporters in the group, so it was lively with jokes and one-upmanship. They played thousands of hours of FIFA together. They also all played for the same team. 

“Evan was always the best player, we likened him to Sergio Busquets because he could see the whole field and he had nerves of steel,” Thatcher recalls. “Football was such a big part of his identity. He was so invested. Each year he would get around five different Arsenal kits. He always used to say, ‘This is our year’, until a certain point when the joke was he would have to change teams. He liked underdogs. I remember he liked Mathieu Flamini, a passionate organiser in midfield who didn’t get so much spotlight. He used to say I looked like Per Mertesacker.” 

Wayne Sutcliffe, the head soccer coach at Princeton High School, heard about Evan before he met him. “He came with a reputation. He came to us as an under-14 player who played for a club that was noted here in New Jersey. He came in with promise and a persona. 

“He quickly became a feature in games between older players, who wanted to have him in their team. He was very bright, passionate, and honest, with a high soccer IQ. He spent four years in the team and excelled behind the striker, where he could find players and use his vision. Every year the team he was in won at least two major championships.

“I have been a coach for 26 seasons and he stands out as one of the most hard-working and resilient players I knew. He has great courage. He has this level of confidence under pressure. He didn’t flinch. He was so resilient…” Sutcliffe’s voice trails off. “That gives us hope. This is just so awful.” The memories are so vivid, a skewering mix of happy and painful.

One thing that comes across about Evan is how everyone seemed so happy to be around him. Those who know him describe him as “a friend magnet”. He has this easy likability, always in a check shirt, baggy jeans and sneakers, effortlessly funny, and at once goofy and super smart. He made friends all over the world.

Occasionally, his career took him into the worlds-colliding moments of covering football. He was thrilled to attend matches at the 2018 World Cup, once got to see CSKA versus Arsenal, and a memorable highlight was a reporting brief on a famous Champions League upset, as FC Sheriff from Moldova beat Real Madrid. He sent messages from the side of the pitch to his old school friends. “Look at where I am!”

While living and working in Moscow, he played for a team in the highest division of amateur football. Pjotr played alongside him. “He was not the quickest but he was very technical. He had this ability to survey the terrain and make strategic decisions. What was nice is that the character he was on the pitch reflects the personality he has off the pitch: very positive, chatty, wanting to get along with everyone, great spirit, clever but also a competitor.”

Hearing this means a lot to Danielle and the rest of Evan’s family. This is their brother. This is their son. This is how he is. 

This is their first birthday without him being free to communicate with them as normal. “Most years would be phone calls and cards and a gift,” Danielle says. “This year is a painful reminder of that, what he is missing. I hope we can get back to that.”

“Before this situation, we were used to living in different places but obviously kept in touch a lot. We would text and Instagram message, send memes to each other. He would help pick out presents for the family during the holidays. I would do the buying and he would advise me on it. We were looking forward to seeing him. Working at the Wall Street Journal, he would get a bit more time to be able to visit us twice a year. We were really excited for that. He is a really genuine person, really kind, really passionate and fun-loving.”

The family have limited access to how he is doing. “We don’t have a lot of information, but he is exercising and staying as busy as he can. One of his colleagues told me he was going to send him a bodyweight routine, very simple exercises. He is trying to stay as mentally and physically healthy as possible.” 

Taking journalists to trade is an increasing geopolitical tactic and the Gershkovich family are thankful for all the support that comes Evan’s way. 

Last April, some Arsenal fans hoisted an #IStandWithEvan banner at the Southampton game. He had been detained for a month at that point. His situation has not changed since. 

People around the world who follow his case send him letters — anybody can. His friends at the freegershkovich.com website have information about how to send a note of support, or even just tell him some football stories to raise his morale. Letters sent via the website or emailed to [email protected] will be translated into Russian, as required by law, and passed on to him.