The Independent Journalists Risking Their Freedom to Keep Reporting From Russia

When Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian courtroom last month ahead of a closed court hearing on an allegation of espionage, the microphones and cameras pointed in his direction bore the familiar logos of Russian state-controlled television and news outlets.

But among the handful of independent journalists in the building that day, one stayed in the courtroom long enough to deliver a personal message to Mr. Gershkovich from the large community of Russian journalists the Journal reporter counts as friends.