Status: 03/30/2023 10:58 a.m
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been arrested in Russia. According to the Russian domestic intelligence service, he is accused of spying on behalf of the United States.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been arrested in Russia. This was announced by the domestic secret service FSB. The Wall Street Journal reporter is accused of espionage.
The FSB said Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg in the Urals for trying to obtain classified information. The AP news agency quoted the secret service as saying that the journalist wanted to collect information “about the activities of one of the companies in the Russian military-industrial complex”. Such information fell under Russian state secrets.
FSB suspects US government behind alleged espionage
From the perspective of the FSB, Gershkovich is said to have acted on instructions from the USA. Therefore, he is accused of “espionage in the interests of the American government”. The reporter could face up to 20 years in prison if charged, according to the AP news agency. Gershkovich is the first journalist from an American media outlet to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War.
The US government has not yet commented on the arrest. The Wall Street Journal said it was “greatly concerned for Gershkovich’s safety”. The newspaper lists him as a reporter covering Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. Previously, he had worked for the AFP news agency and the Moscow Times, among others. The FSB also confirmed that Gershkovich was accredited as a journalist with the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The journalist’s latest published report comes from this week and focused on Russia’s economic slowdown amid sanctions imposed by the West over the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Russia’s secret service arrests US journalists
Frank Aischmann, MDR, 30.3.2023 12:01 p.m