# Evan Gershkovich says Putin spent over an hour convincing a world leader he was a spy

https://mins.news/en/item/74392

- Meduza, 2026-09-25 18:00 UTC
- World
- Original: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/09/25/he-s-an-idiot-evan-gershkovich-says-putin-spent-more-than-an-hour-trying-to-convince-a-world-leader-that-the-wsj-reporter-really-was-a-spy

> Evan Gershkovich writes that Vladimir Putin was convinced the Wall Street Journal reporter was a spy and once spent more than an hour trying to persuade a world leader involved in the prisoner swap. Gershkovich believes the FSB packaged a narrative that Putin fully accepted. Tucker Carlson separately confirmed that Putin viewed him as a spy.

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