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The correspondent has been detained after being caught red-handed violating Russian state secrets laws.
On Thursday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had been detained on suspicion of espionage in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Sverdlovsk Oblast.
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According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking to reporters, Gershkovich was caught red-handed violating Russian state secrets laws.
The WSJ reporter was trying to "collect information that constitutes a state secret about the activities of an enterprise of Russia's military-industrial complex," the FSB Public Relations Center said in a statement.
The FSB said the U.S. reporter "acted in the interests of the U.S. government." If charged with espionage, Gershkovich could face 10 to 20 years in prison.
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— zoli osaze (@zaswadosaze) March 30, 2023
Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, could face up to 20 years in prison.
Russia claimed he was “acting on instructions from the U.S. side” to collect “information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” pic.twitter.com/UQ9zlWpRSV
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that on other occasions the West, in its attempt to get classified information from Russian intelligence, has used the correspondent's status as a cover.
Evan Gershkovich, with the journalistic credentials required by the Foreign Ministry to work in Russia, covered news from Russia, Ukraine and the former USSR.
The Lefortovsky Court in Moscow reported that the journalist will remain in detention pending investigation of the case. The possibility of releasing Gershkovich in a prisoner swap has not been considered, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.
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