The State Department has designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “wrongfully detained.” Evan worked in the Moscow bureau for the Wall Street Journal and was arrested last month. He was accused of espionage but the Journal denies that charge, as does the Biden administration.

The declaration of “wrongfully detained” is good. It allows the United States to press Russia for Evan’s release. The State Department is also calling on Russia to release Paul Whelan, another American held in a Russian prison on espionage charges, declared wrongfully detained. Whelan was sentenced to serve 16 years in a Russian penal colony. His family disputes his charges.

“Journalism is not a crime,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement. “We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”

There was no immediate response from Russia’s embassy in Washington. Its mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to requests for comment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that he didn’t understand what changes the designation will bring. “What it means— I don’t know,” he said. “The United States could and should protect the rights of its citizen who was caught red-handed [and] violated the relevant laws of the Russian Federation. He is suspected of such. Naturally, the decision will be made by the court. [That’s] all there is to say.”

The designation came at an unprecedented speed. Usually, it is a long bureaucratic process that can take months to complete. Even has not been allowed to meet with American consular officials from the local embassy, something that usually happens before the detainee is determined to be wrongfully detained.’ There will now be additional resources to use for Evan’s case.

The department’s designation and additional resources are “crucial as we condemn Putin’s assault on free press,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a tweet, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Gershkovich is from New Jersey.

“While this case has moved at a record pace, it still took almost two weeks for our government to make this determination. We must do more to streamline the process—especially as it relates to journalists,” Eileen O’Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, said in a joint statement. “We believe it is always a wrongful detention when a journalist is held for doing their job.”

They called on the State Department’s hostage envoy to refer the case to the White House National Security Council for a speedier resolution.

It’s interesting that now that one of their own is detained, the press in Washington is taking a special interest in the case and pushing for speedy action. It’s human nature but what about when non-journalists are detained in Russia and those who are not known, like WNBA star Brittney Griner? Take, for instance, Paul Whelan or Marc Fogel, a 61-year-old American teacher working in Russian schools who was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison for less than half an ounce of marijuana he used for pain relief. Occasionally we hear Whelan’s name mentioned but we never hear Fogel’s. Is anyone working on his release?

Evan is reported to be in good health and grateful for the support he is getting. His employer is doing what it can to work toward his release.

“We are doing everything in our power to support Evan and his family and will continue working with the State Department and other relevant U.S. officials to push for his release,” Ms. Tucker and Almar Latour, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and chief executive officer of Dow Jones & Co. Inc., said in a statement Monday after the designation was announced.

“He is a distinguished journalist and his arrest is an attack on a free press and it should spur outrage in all free people and governments around the world.”

Let’s be honest – Evan was grabbed while having dinner in a restaurant because there is no fear of grabbing an American. Putin is jabbing a finger in the eye of Joe Biden and the State Department. Putin wants some revenge for the support shown to Ukraine by the United States. And, after Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, world leaders see him as inept and feckless. What has he done to show strength on the world stage? Nothing. He leads from behind. He allowed Macron to take the lead in negotiating on the entry into supporting Ukraine against Putin’s invasion and how did Macron repay him? He said France will partner up with China, not blindly follow the U.S. lead on issues. Now the first journalist since the end of the Cold War has been taken and imprisoned in Russia.

The White House and both leaders in the Senate condemned Evan’s detention.

The White House has labeled Russia’s accusation “ridiculous,” denied Mr. Gershkovich was a spy, and said he had never worked for the U.S. government. In a joint statement Friday, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate condemned Mr. Gershkovich’s detention and demanded his release.

“He doesn’t belong there. He needs to be released. He’s a journalist, not a criminal,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “And it doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to continue to follow this case as closely as we can. We still don’t have consular access and we’re also trying to get that.”

Besides the authority to pressure Moscow to release Evan, other resources are available with the designation. The State Department can monitor intelligence, build diplomatic coalititons, exert media pressure, and fight for consular access, which Evan has not had yet. Most Americans held overseas are not designated as wrongfully detained. About 99% of Americans don’t receive the determination.

There are parameters to be met and the U.S. does not disclose how many hostages are held. Human rights groups claim that more than 50 Americans are wrongfully detained overseas. Most are believed to be held by Iran and China.

It’s a step in the right direction for Evan. Let’s hope it continues and that the other Americans are released soon, too.