The Lefortovo Court in Moscow extended the arrest of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalist Evan Gershkovich until March 30. This was reported in the Telegram channel of the press service of the Moscow courts. Gershkovich has been under arrest since last spring.
According to the FSB, Gershkovich worked in the interests of the United States and collected data on Russia’s military potential. Security officials believe that the journalist was trying to find out how the Russian military-industrial complex functions in the Urals in order to transfer information to the State Department. The journalist is currently in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.
The correspondent of the Moscow bureau of WSJ is accused under Art. 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (espionage). The maximum penalty under this article is 20 years in prison. Gershkovich does not admit his guilt. At the same time, the WSJ head office has repeatedly demanded the release of the journalist and his transfer to the American side. The newspaper categorically disagrees with the accusations against the correspondent.
Earlier, US Presidential National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Washington was closely monitoring the situation with Gershkovich and was negotiating with Moscow for a possible prisoner exchange. The Kremlin also confirmed that there is a channel of communication between the United States and Russia for contacts regarding Gershkovich, but these negotiations will not be public.
In December 2023, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reported problems related to the exchange of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. According to Miller, Russia refuses any options offered by the American side. The State Department emphasized that they made several proposals to Vladimir Putin regarding possible exchange scenarios, but all of them were rejected.
Let us remind you that foreign media workers have not been detained in Russia since 1986. Gershkovich became the first journalist from a foreign publication to end up in a Russian pre-trial detention center since the Cold War.
After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, leading Western media, including the BBC, The New York Times and Reuters, decided to move their correspondent points from Russia to EU countries.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
