Russia Releases 18-Year-Old Accused of Spy Photography Alongside Evan Gershkovic
A teenager convicted of taking clandestine photos of military sites has landed back in Germany as part of the prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
The most high-profile prisoner released was The Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovic in the largest exchange since the Cold War. German-Russian teenager Kevin Lick is the youngest person ever to be convicted of treason in Russia.
Lick was arrested in 2022 when he was just 17 years old while living in Maikop, southern Russia. Authorities said Lick was taking photos of military units and sending them to a “representative of a foreign state.”
Russian investigators said that Lick’s motive was his disdain for “the political course” of the Russian state and in particular the “special military operation”, which is what Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine.
When Lick was arrested, he was a high-achieving student and while incarcerated he requested his mother bring him books rather than food.
Mark Galeotti, a professor at University College London, calls Lick’s case “egregious.”
“He was just simply taking photographs. He took some photographs of some military equipment and basing around Rostov on Don,” Galoetto tells The Story podcast.
“Technically speaking, should he have done that? Was it legal? No.”
However, Galeotti says he himself has been caught taking photos of things he shouldn’t have in Russia and he simply deleted the offending images and apologized.
“They chose to treat him as if this was some sort of terrible espionage,” he adds.
Lick was beaten up while in prison and in December 2023 he was sentenced to four years during a trial that took place behind closed doors.
Release
On August 2, he was released and expelled to Germany much to his surprise. He tells Deutche Welle that “it feels like your body is free, but your soul is still in prison.”
“Of course, I hoped for such an opportunity, but I also knew that it was very naive to hope for it,” Lick says.
“The chance of an exchange is almost zero, and it is also quite difficult to get on the list for an exchange.”
‘I Want to Return to Russia’
Despite his experiences, Lick says he wants to return to Russia and believes there is a positive future there. However, his main motivation to go back is to see his mother who remains there.
“I don’t think I will be able to return to Russia in the near future, although I would very much like to. But I think we will still have a bright future in Russia.”
