The newsroom is celebrating the release of Evan Gershkovich from detention in Russia.

The journalism community is elated that Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is returning home after being falsely imprisoned for nearly 500 days in Russia on spying charges.

On Thursday, Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones, and Emma Tucker, Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal, issued a joint statement confirming that Evan is now free and heading home.

Gershkovich and U.S. veteran Paul Whelan were released as part of a massive swap of political prisoners and journalists involving the United States and Germany. Gershkovich's friends, family, and colleagues have worked to keep his name at the forefront, and #FreeEvan hashtags have been regularly shared across social media. Details were initially murky, but the journalism industry celebrated as sensitive news began to trickle out.

Staffers in the newsroom were celebrating with champagne after hearing the news.

The National Press Club president, Emily Wilkins, expressed her joy upon hearing the news that Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has been freed from Russian prison and is now en route to be reunited with his loved ones.

"Although we cannot forget the injustice committed by the Russian government in stealing 16 months of Evan's life and work through kidnapping him and putting him through a sham trial, we choose to celebrate his freedom today."

Gershkovich and Whelan had an "amazing day," as reported by Planet Chronicle' Benjamin Hall.

According to Hall, the situation involved hostage diplomacy, with innocent Americans being seized from the streets of Russia and held by Putin in order to obtain something in return from the U.S.

"Evan, like me, is another journalist targeted by Russia. That one day when you're going home is a remarkable day, and we must appreciate it."

"Today, families will be reunited. This is fantastic news."

Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan are returning home, according to Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl News.

Gershkovich's disappearance served as a stark reminder that no journalist was immune to Putin's regime's dangers.

Reports indicate that Evan Gershkovich's 16-month-long ordeal is finally coming to an end. We anxiously await news of his safe return to the United States, but emphasize that he should never have spent a single day in a Russian prison for doing his job as a journalist. The Russian government's continued policy of state hostage-taking is outrageous - journalists are not spies, and they must never be targeted for political purposes, a Reporters Without Borders spokesperson stated.

On March 29, 2023, Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip and accused of espionage. The Biden administration declared him "wrongfully detained," while The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government both strongly denied the charges.

Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony for "gathering secret information" in a closed court, which was condemned by Wall Street Journal leaders as a "sham conviction." They repeatedly called for his immediate release.

Conor Sen, a journalist for Bloomberg, paid attention to the efforts to keep Gershkovich's harrowing experience in the public eye.

Evan was kept front-of-mind by the WSJ and its reporters for 17 months through articles and Twitter avatar changes, as Sen wrote.

Many others took to social media to rejoice:

In post-Soviet Russia, Gershkovich was the first Western journalist to be charged with espionage.