The State Department can now more effectively work to free Evan Gershkovich.
Blinken has already held a rare call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to advocate for Gershkovich's release. The secretary said last week that he had "no doubt" that the reporter was being unjustly held by Russia, but that the department was still working through the bureaucratic process required to classify the case a wrongful detention -- an undertaking that can take months or even years to complete.
Gershkovich's case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs -- a section within the State Department often referred to as the U.S. government's top hostage negotiator. But so far, American diplomats stationed in Russia have been unable to even see Gershkovich behind bars, a standard practice that allows foreign governments to communicate with nationals jailed abroad.
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