US journalist Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal's former Moscow correspondent, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he realised he had been "lured into a trap" when masked agents of the FSB (Russia's domestic security service) detained him at a restaurant in Yekaterinburg in March 2023. Sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges that he and his employer deny, he was freed after 16 months in an August 2024 prisoner swap; he said the lack of interrogation or torture showed Moscow wanted a valuable bargaining chip. His account highlights Russia's use of foreign detainees as leverage, and he contrasted his treatment with that of others, such as Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody.