Evan Gershkovich news: Russia detains Wall Street Journal reporter and accuses him of espionage

On Wednesday, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation detained Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist who works for the Wall Street Journal and covers Russia and Ukraine. Gershkovich has been accused of espionage and has had a criminal case launched against him by the Russian authorities.

According to Meduza, a Russian-focused news website, the Russian security service claimed that Gershkovich was “acting on the instructions of the American side, carried out the collection of information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” The authorities further alleged that he was detained “while trying to obtain secret information.”

The journalist was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg and was later taken to Moscow. Following an appearance in court with a state-appointed defence attorney, Gershkovich was ordered to be held in custody until May 29, as reported by TASS.

The criminal case launched against Gershkovich is punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment, and the Wall Street Journal has strongly denied the allegations from the FSB. Additionally, many reporters and journalists believe that the arrest of Gershkovich is repressive and are fearful of the precedent this sets in foreign media still operating in Russia.

Relations between the US and Russia are tense already, and this incident will put the US response to Russian repression in the spotlight again.