Russia Detains American Reporter On Suspicion Of Spying

Moscow: An American reporter has been detained by Russia’s main security agency Federal Security Bureau (FSB) on suspicion of espionage, Russian news agencies reported quoting FSB officials.

Evan Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper, was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg while he was on an assignment, Interfax news agency reported.

“Mr Gershkovich, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,” FSB said.

Gershkovich was taken to Moscow, where he appeared in court with a state-appointed defence attorney. The court ordered that he be held in custody until May 29, the press service of the court said according to TASS.

“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family,” WSJ said.

The 31-year-old Gershkovich worked for AFP in Moscow before joining the Wall Street Journal. He was earlier a reporter for The Moscow Times, an English language news website.