Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been incarcerated in Russia for more than two weeks, and the outward appearance is grim. He’s been formally charged with espionage – an allegation both the Journal and U.S. government reject – and is reportedly in isolation 23 hours a day.

This week, the State Department designated Mr. Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” escalating his case to its office of hostage affairs. He could be in for a long haul.

But at least one thing has been going right: the ability of Journal editors and fellow journalists to keep Mr. Gershkovich’s plight in the public spotlight. This morning, the Journal posted a compelling video interview with his family – his Soviet Jewish émigré parents and his sister – that made one thing clear: This American-born reporter has an abiding love of his heritage and an adventurous spirit that led him to keep telling Russia’s story despite the risks.

“He loves the Russian people,” said Ella Milman, Mr. Gershkovich’s mother. “He said, ‘I’m just one of the few left there’” – referring to American journalists in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine – and felt it was his “duty” to stay.

Mr. Gershkovich wanted to convey the “nuance” and “beauty” of the country and its culture, despite Russia’s image in American media as a “terrifying, cold place,” his sister, Danielle, said.

A Russian prison monitor who visited the reporter told ABC News that he was “cheerful” and reading the novel “Life and Fate,” a Soviet-era classic about wartime society. Mr. Gershkovich’s friends speak of his sense of humor and fluent Russian as major assets.

His mother says the family remains hopeful: “It’s one of the American qualities that we absorbed – be optimistic, believe in happy ending, and that’s where we stand right now. But I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved. But that’s what I choose to believe.”