Ivan Gershkovich: Russia accuses the American journalist of espionage – reports

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By Robert Greenall, BBC News April 7, 2023, 17:30 GMT

Updated 1 hour ago

Local media reported that American journalist Ivan Gershkovich is officially accused of espionage in Russia.

Media reports said he categorically rejected the charges against him. The newspaper called for his immediate release.

After his arrest, the Kremlin said he was caught “in the act”.

Mr. Gershkovitch, 31, is well known among foreign correspondents in Moscow, and BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg describes him as an excellent reporter and journalist with high principles.

The White House condemned his arrest “in the strongest terms”.

In a rare joint statement on Friday, Senate Republican and Democratic leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer strongly condemned his arrest.

“Journalism is not a crime,” they said. “We demand that the baseless and fabricated charges against Mr. Gershkovitch be dropped and that he be immediately released.”

The Wall Street Journal issued another statement after news of the charges: “As we have said from the beginning, these charges are categorically false and unjustified, and we continue to call for Evan’s immediate release.”

US officials say they have sought to reach Mr. Gershkovitch but have not been able to visit him. However, the Wall Street Journal said her attorneys were allowed to interview him.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the issue of consular access was being resolved, but added that “the fuss in the United States over this issue, aimed at putting pressure on the Russian authorities…was hopeless and meaningless.”

The Wall Street Journal said its reporter lost contact with his editors while working in Yekaterinburg, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, on Wednesday afternoon.

US officials said Mr. Gershkovitch’s driver drove him to a restaurant and two hours later his phone was turned off. The newspaper could not find him in the city.

Russia’s Federal Security Service claimed to have stopped “illegal activities”. It added that the journalist was arrested while “executing American instructions,” claiming that he “collected information classified as state secrets about the activities of a Russian defense establishment.”

FSB agents took him to Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court last Friday, where he was formally arrested and ordered to remain in detention until May 29.

Espionage in Russia is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.

In his most recent Wall Street Journal article, published last week, Ivan Gershkovich talks about the decline of the Russian economy and how the Kremlin has had to deal with “inflated military expenditures” while maintaining social spending.

Reporters Without Borders, which monitors press freedom, said he had gone to Yekaterinburg to cover for the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has been involved in some of the fiercest battles in eastern Ukraine.

He has covered Russia for the Wall Street Journal for more than a year, having previously worked there for Agence France-Presse and The Moscow Times. He started his career in the United States.

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