Russian security services detained a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges on Thursday.
The Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) claimed that Evan Gershkovich, who is accredited to work in Russia by the country's foreign ministry, was spying on the "Russian military-industrial complex" for the U.S.
- The Wall Street Journal denied the allegations and demanded the release of Gershkovich.
- Russian authorities arrested him in the city of Yekaterinburg on Wednesday and brought him to Moscow, 880 miles to the west, for a court appearance on Thursday.
- Gershkovich has been assigned a state-appointed defense attorney and will be held in until at least May 29, the court said.
- The 33-year-old Gershkovich has worked as a Russia-based reporter since 2017, with stints at the Moscow Times and Agence France-Presse before joining the Journal early last year.
- This is the first arrest of a foreign reporter in Russia since the start of the Ukrainian invasion, Reporters Without Borders said.
- The White House condemned the arrest of Gershkovich and "the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press."
