The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested the American journalist Evan Gershkovich, correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in Russia, in the city of Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Urals, for alleged espionage, as reported by the Russian press department. this entity.
“The FSB has aborted the illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow branch of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal and American citizen Evan Gershkovich, suspected of espionage in the interests of the US Government,” the service told the Interfax agency.
Despite the fact that no evidence was provided, the SFB has assured that Gershkovich was commissioned “by the American side” to collect information on “the activities of one of the companies of the military-defensive complex.” The criminal case for espionage that has been opened against Gershkovich could lead to a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
According to the local newspaper Meduza, the 31-year-old American reporter was detained in front of a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, the city where he was collecting information on the attitude of the Russian population towards the Wagner private army, currently spearheading the Russian offensive in the east. from Ukraine.
Evan Gershkovich has lived in Russia for about six years, where he works in the Moscow office of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Greshkovich previously worked for Agence France-Presse, The Moscow Times, and The New York Times. The last article by him was published by The Wall Street Journal on March 28.
