Evan Gershkovich, US journalist, working for the Wall Street Journal, a US-based international daily newspaper, has been arrested on allegations of spying. Well versed in reporting in Russia, he was working in Yekaterinburg at the time of his detention.
The Wall Street Journal expressed it was “deeply concerned” for his safety and, along with the White House, has blatantly disapproved of the accusations made against him. While Russia claimed that the reporter was “caught red-handed”.
Russia’s FSB security service stated that it had “halted illegal activities” and that the reporter’s actions were following “US instructions” and “collected information classified as a state secret about the activities of a Russian defence enterprise”.
The security service took the accused journalist to Lefortovo district court in Moscow where he was arrested formally. The court ordered him to be detained till 29 May.
His lawyer stated that he was not allowed to enter the courtroom and the Russian TASS news agency reported that the journalist disagreed with the charge. Russia’s Ria state news agency reported a bomb threat in the courtroom, so the court restricted the area for staff and visitors.
In a statement, the FSB said that Evan Gershkovich had foreign ministry accreditation, while he was working in Yekaterinburg 1,800km (1,100 miles), located east of Moscow.
This week, his last WSJ piece was published reporting on Russia’s dwindling economy and how the Kremlin tackled “ballooning military expenditures” and simultaneously maintained social spending.
The Wall Street Journal said in a statement that it stood in solidarity with the reporter and his family. It read, “The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich.”
Also, the Kremlin commented on the US journalist’s detention. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “This is the responsibility of the FSB, they have already issued a statement. The only thing I can add is, as far as we know, he was caught red-handed.”
In Russia, espionage leads to a maximum of 20 years of jail time.
Reporting from Russia was already becoming difficult before Ukraine’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Independent journalists were considered “foreign agents” and BBC’s Russian correspondent Sarah Rainsford was banned from the country.
Russia brought in a criminal offence for reporting “fake news” or “discrediting the army” when the war began, under which several Russians were accused of criticizing Ukraine’s invasion on social media.
Most of Russia’s independent media were silenced, shut down, or blocked, including dominant media houses such as TV Rain, Echo of Moscow radio, and newspaper Novaya Gazeta, while the Western media opted to exit from Russia.
For over a year, Evan Gershkovich reported about Russia for the Wall Street Journal and has previously worked for the AFP news agency and the Moscow Times.
Russian political expert Tatyana Stanovaya stated that his detention came as a shock. From FSB’s perspective of espionage, “collecting information” can also mean getting comments from experts, she said, while “acting on US instructions” could indicate to his editors at the Wall Street Journal.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman in the Russian foreign ministry, questioned that what a Wall Street Journal employee was doing in Yekaterinburg had “nothing to do with journalism.” It is not the first time that the status of a “foreign correspondent” has been accused of “cover-up activities that are not journalism,’ she added.
In the past 13 months of the Ukraine war, tension has been growing between the Kremlin and the West. Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was “alarmed by what looks like retaliation.”
It was still early to discuss prisoner swaps, “I would not even put the question in this plane now because you understand that some exchanges that happened in the past took place for people who were already serving sentences,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov informed the local news agencies.
Several US citizens are held in Russia. American basketball star Brittney Griner faced detention at a Moscow airport and was jailed for carrying cannabis oil. It was 10 months before she was freed in exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
