"The room gave off a musty smell—one familiar to anyone who has ever entered a Russian bureaucratic building. On the wall hung a poster of a smirking Putin in a suit and sunglasses along with the word 'Svoy,' meaning: One of our own. Through the window I could see the glowing white and red lights of a KFC," writes WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich.⁠ ⁠ "The man in the suit, an investigator, in Russian law enforcement parlance, calmly told me he was charging me with espionage, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. 'Do you understand what that means?' he asked.⁠ ⁠ "I nodded. An odd sense of relief flooded through me. It's a feeling I've been trying to understand ever since.⁠ ⁠ "'If there's anything you'd like to say,' the investigator continued, 'now would be a good time.'⁠ ⁠ "I asked again to see the Journal's lawyers. The investigator got up and left me waiting with the agent and another who joined him. The agent who had checked my biography and I started talking. He seemed eager for the chance to speak with an American, especially one he believed to be a spy. I was curious to talk to an FSB agent—and to distract myself from thinking about what would come next.⁠ ⁠ "He asked questions about life back home, complained that it took too long for the U.S. to come to the Soviet Union's aid in World War II, and asked whether I thought Ukraine could mount a successful counteroffensive against Russia's invading forces in the current war. Much of our conversation on that night in late March 2023 has been lost to the fog of shock, but one moment remains with me with absolute clarity.⁠ ⁠ "'You can't step in the same river twice,' the agent told me deep into the night, as we were preparing to part. 'Your life will be completely different now.'"⁠ ⁠ Read the exclusive excerpt from WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich's new book: 🔗 on.wsj.com/4AMGmNI