A Wall Street Journal reporter was formally charged by Russian authorities with espionage on Friday afternoon, according to Russian state media, following his detainment on a suspected false charge.
Evan Gershkovich was on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on accusations of spying against Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously recognized Gershkovich as an accredited American journalist, causing confusion as to why he has now been accused of committing a crime.
“The FSB investigation charged Gershkovich with espionage in the interests of his country. He categorically denied all accusations and stated that he was engaged in journalistic activities in Russia,” the Russian arresting agency said.
American political institutions have been quick to publicly denounce the journalist’s arrest, including the White House, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate.
“We demand the baseless, fabricated charges against Mr. Gershkovich be dropped and he be immediately released and reiterate our condemnation of the Russian government’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish independent journalists and civil society voices,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday.
It’s unclear what avenues there are to pursue Gershkovich’s release. The White House recently secured the release of women’s basketball star Brittney Griner by giving Russia a wanted arms merchant. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine accused of spying, has been in a Russian prison since 2018 and there are no signs his release will come soon.
Gershkovich’s arrest, which is the first time in decades an American journalist has been arrested in Russia, took place in the interior of the country, in the Ural Mountains. In the past, Gershkovich has worked for the New York Times and Agence France-Presse. His latest story examined the impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy.
According to Jeanne Cavelier of Reporters Without Borders, the arrest might be a form of retaliation as the U.S. has heavily backed Ukraine during its war with Russia.
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“It looks like a retaliation measure of Russia against the United States, so we are very alarmed because it is probably a way to intimidate all Western journalists that are trying to investigate aspects of the war on the ground in Russia,” Cavelier told The Associated Press. “The Western powers should immediately ask for clarifications on the charges, because as far as we know he was just doing his job as a journalist.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.