- Russia accused American journalist Evan Gershkovich of spying for the US government
- Gershkovich is a journalist who covers Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union
- Gershkovich faces up to twenty years in jail if convicted of espionage
Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested in Russia on Thursday on accusations of espionage, marking the first time since the end of the Cold War that an American correspondent has been imprisoned on espionage allegations.
Russia asserts that the 31-year-old American was "caught red-handed" attempting to gather confidential information concerning a military-industrial complex of the Kremlin. According to Russia's Federal Security Service, Gershkovich, who pled not guilty in a Moscow court, was arrested in Yekaterinburg.
Who is Evan Gershkovich?
The WSJ, where Gershkovich has worked for just over a year, has disputed the claims and expressed "great worry" for the reporter's safety. Per NY Post, Gershkovich is an American citizen who grew up in New Jersey. Records indicate he is the son of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union residing in Philadelphia.
According to his LinkedIn page, Gershkovich graduated in 2014 from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he majored in philosophy and English. He is conversant in Russian.
Gershkovich has been a Wall Street Journal journalist for over a year. He resides in London but regularly goes to the Moscow office of the WSJ on reporting trips. Gershkovich covers the former Soviet Union, Russia, and Ukraine for the news organization.
Gershkovich's LinkedIn page indicates that since 2017, he has been stationed in Moscow. Before, he had served as a correspondent in Russia for the French news agency Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times. Before, he worked as a news assistant for the New York Times. The Russian Federal Security Agency confirmed that the Russian Foreign Ministry authorized Gershkovich to operate as a journalist in Russia.
As per USA Today, the FSB did not clarify precisely when Gershkovich was taken into custody. Tuesday marked the release of his final report from Moscow, which focused on the economic downturn in Russia due to Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine last year.
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Gershkovich Might Face 20 Years of Imprisonment
Gershkovich faces up to twenty years in jail if convicted of espionage. Since the end of the Cold War, Gershkovich is the only American journalist to be jailed on espionage allegations in Russia.
The latest arrest of this nature occurred in September 1986, when the KGB detained US News and World Report journalist Nicholas Daniloff. Twenty days later, the journalist from Moscow was freed without charges in exchange for a Soviet Union United Nations mission employee whom the FBI had detained.
Evan Gershkovich covers Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union for The Wall Street Journal. He began his journalistic career as a news assistant for nearly two years at the New York Times. He then served as a correspondent for The Moscow Times, an English-language news website, stationed in the Russian capital until 2020.
Gershkovich was a reporter for the AFP wire agency before joining the Wall Street Journal in 2022 as its Moscow correspondent. His work has appeared in several media, including The New York Times, The Economist, MIT Technology Review, Foreign Policy, and Politico Europe.
Among other media venues, he has appeared on the BBC, NPR, Deutsche Welle, and France 24. Before his detention, Yekaterinburg worked on an article regarding the Wagner private military business.
Per Daily Mail, his most recent Wall Street Journal piece, published on March 28, covered the economic decline in Russia. Also, in March 2023, he reported on the Bakhmut front lines in Ukraine, a Russian assault against US aircraft, and riots in Georgia.
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