A new chapter adds the tense relationship between Russia and the United States. This Thursday, from Moscow confirmed the arrest the arrest of Evan Gershkovicnewspaper journalist Wall Street Journalfor espionage. The crossed accusations began to stir the waters again, within the framework of the international geopolitical conflict, with its epicenter in the war in Ukraine.
While the Kremlin accused espionage gerskovichby revealing that it was found “caught red handed”comments came from the West to condemn the act, assuring that Putin’s government has once again exercised “repression and censorship” since the beginning of the offensive against Ukraine.
Russia: Wall Street Journal journalist arrested for espionage
“The FBS thwarted the illegal activities of US citizen Evan Gershkovich (…) a correspondent for the Moscow bureau of the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal”, said the Russian federal security service in a statement, quoted by Russian agencies, on Thursday. He is “suspected of spying for the US government,” the agency added.
In the note the Russian authorities confirmed that Gershkovich, 31, worked with a press accreditation issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Then they indicated that the reporter was detained for collecting information “about a company of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
“The foreigner was arrested in Yekaterinburg when he was trying to obtain classified information”detailed the FSB, in reference to that city in central Russia located 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow. The crime of espionage is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison, according to article 276 of the Russian penal code.
Before joining the Wall Street Journal in 2022, Gershkovich, who speaks Russian perfectly, worked for the AFP in Moscow and previously for The Moscow Timesan English news website.
What is Gershkovich accused of?
“What the collaborator of the American publication Wall Street Journal was doing in Yekaterinburg had no relation to journalism”said the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy on Telegram Maria Zakharova.
He added that the reporter was “not the first famous Westerner to be caught red-handed” and that others had already “used the ‘foreign correspondent’ status to cover his activities.”
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Wall Street Journal: “We are concerned about your safety”
When the news broke, the The Wall Street Journal came out to condemn the act and support the journalist. Through a statement, they expressed their “deep concern for the safety” of Gershkovich. The US newspaper “vehemently” denied the accusations against his reporter and called for his “immediate release”.
After the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had arrested him for espionage, the well-known North American media outlet expressed its concern about what happened. “The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for Gershkovich’s safety”the newspaper said in a statement.
Law specialists detailed that the new Russian legislation allows imprisonment for 20 years “to anyone who is simply interested in military affairs”. Along these lines, several US citizens are currently in prison in Russia and both Washington and Moscow have accused each other of carrying out politically motivated arrests.
The Kremlin’s warning
The Kremlin warned Washington on Thursday thator retaliate against the Russian media in the United States after the arrest of an American journalist accused of espionage and captured, according to Moscow, “red-handed”.
“We hope there won’t be, and there shouldn’t be”Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, referring to any action against Russian media in the United States in response to the Russian arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Source: Ambito
