The Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage
In Yekaterinburg (Russia), the FSB detained The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was working on a report about the Russians' attitude to the war and the recruitment at the PMC "Wagner", write Mediazona and Meduza.
The special service accused the journalist of espionage. A criminal case was opened under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (espionage). The article provides for up to 20 years in prison.
"It was established that Evan Gershkovich, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. The foreign citizen was detained in Yekaterinburg During while attempting to obtain secret information," the FSB claims.
On March 29, the Russian media reported that security forces had detained a man near the Bukowski Grill restaurant in Yekaterinburg, pulling a sweater over his head. PR specialist Yaroslav Shirshikov suggested that the detainee was Evan Gershkovich. According to Shirshikov, he had previously accompanied the American journalist, who had come there to write a report about the locals' attitude to the Wagner group and to Russia's war on Ukraine, to Yekaterinburg.
Citing a source among Western journalists working in Moscow, Meduza writes that Gershkovich had also visited Nizhny Tagil. The Uralvagonzavod military enterprise is located there.
Evan Gershkovich is a US citizen, but he has been living in Russia for about six years and works in the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal.
The journalist is accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Gershkovich previously worked for Agence France-Presse, The Moscow Times, and The New York Times. The last article by Gershkovich was published by The Wall Street Journal on March 28.
Help us be even more cool!
