Russian secret service arrests American journalists

According to state media, the Russian secret service FSB has arrested a correspondent of the renowned American newspaper Wall Street Journal in Yekaterinburg in the Urals for alleged espionage.

Reporter Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, is suspected of “espionage in the interest of the US government,” the FSB said Thursday, according to state agency TASS. A criminal case has been started against him. Gershkovich collected information about the military-industrial complex in Russia on behalf of the US, which is a state secret. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the arrest.

“The foreigner was arrested in Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information,” the FSB said. Media had previously reported that the reporter had disappeared. He had therefore tried to write a report on the attitude of the population towards the recruitment efforts of Wagner’s private army. “The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned about Mr Gershkovich’s safety,” the newspaper said on the arrest.

First arrest of an accredited journalist

Americans are repeatedly suspected of espionage in Russia. This is probably the first case of a journalist officially accredited to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova defended the arrest on Thursday. What Gershkovich covered in Yekaterinburg has nothing to do with journalism. “Unfortunately, this is not the first case where foreign correspondent status, journalist visa and accreditation of foreigners in our country are used to cover up an activity that is not journalism,” she claimed on her Telegram channel.

In the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, Russia has recently tightened its stance against Western journalists. The Russian opposition spoke of a “hostage situation”. “Putin is ready to use any method to put pressure on the West,” the team of imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny said. Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin had in the past repeatedly released Russian criminals imprisoned in the United States through exchanges with Americans convicted in Moscow. (sda/dpa)