Topline
U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported Thursday, accusing him of spying on behalf of the U.S. government as tensions between Washington and Moscow escalate.
Russia’s Federal Security Service in Lubyanskaya Square in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, July 24, 2017. … [+]
Key Facts
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg, the Russian Federal Security Service said Thursday, adding he was “suspected of spying for the U.S. government.”
The journalist, who works for the Journal’s Moscow bureau, “was gathering information about a Russian defense plant that constitutes a state secret” and was “acting on the orders of the U.S.,” the FSB alleged in a statement, saying he was detained “while trying to obtain secret information.”
The Russian government has opened a criminal case into Gershkovich and he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to Interfax.
Gershkovich has worked at the Journal since January 2022, according to his Twitter account, and has previously worked for Agence France-Press, the Moscow Times and as a news assistant for the New York Times.
The Journal said in a statement it “is deeply concerned for the safety of Mr. Gershkovich,” and the U.S. embassy in Russia has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Chief Critics
Other news correspondents in Russia spoke out against Gershkovich’s arrest on Twitter Thursday, with Guardian reporter Pjotr Sauer describing him as a “thoroughly professional journalist” and saying he had been arrested on “completely bogus espionage charges.” “Journalism is not a crime. The allegations are ridiculous,” Financial Times reporter Polina Ivanova tweeted, and Politico journalist Eva Hartog said, “I’ve known Evan since his first day in Russia many years ago and this is total, horrifying bogus.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/03/30/russia-arrests-american-journalist-evan-gershkovich-on-suspicion-of-spying-for-us-government/