Americans told to leave Russia as Wall Street Journal reporter arrested, accused of spying

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the arrest of Evan Gershkovich on charges of espionage, which the Wall St Journal has vehemently denied.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg, 1800km east of Moscow. Picture: AFP

The US government has urged American citizens to leave Russia immediately after the arrest of a Wall Stress Journal reporter by Russian authorities for supposed “espionage” activity.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday (Friday AEDT) said he was “deeply concerned” about the arrest of 31-year-old Evan Gershkovich on charges of espionage, which the Wall Street Journal has vehemently denied.

“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices,” Mr Blinken said in a statement on Thursday (Friday AEDT).

“We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately”.

The White House also condemned the arrest, saying in a statement: “The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable.”

Russia’s FSB security services, the successor organisation of the Soviet-era KGB, said it had “halted the illegal ­activities of US citizen Evan Gershkovich”, saying the Wall Street Journal reporter was “suspected of spying in the interests of the American government”.

It confirmed that Mr Gershko­vich, 31, was working with press ­accreditation issued by the Russian foreign ministry.

The FSB said in a statement he had been detained for gathering information “on an ­enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex”.

“The foreigner was detained in Yekaterinburg while attempting to obtain classified information,” the FSB said, referring to a city in central Russia 1800km east of Moscow.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, added: “Unfortunately, this is not the first time that foreign ­correspondent status, a press visa and accreditation is used by ­foreigners in our country to cover up activities that are not ­journalism.

“This is not the first well-known Westerner to be caught red-handed.”

The Wall Street Journal in its own statement said it “vehemently denies the allegation from the FSB and seeks the immediate release for our trusted and dedicated reporter”.

The arrest comes at a deeply fractious time in relations between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing US support for Kyiv.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre revealed US government agencies had been in touch with the reporter’s family, the Wall Street Journal, and Russian government agencies to ensure consular access for Mr Gershkovich.

“I want to strongly reiterate that Americans should heed the US government’s warning to not travel to Russia. US citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately, as the State Department continues to advise,” she added in a statement.

“We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press”.

The latest US government travel advisory for Russia, issued on February 13th, urges Americans to depart Russia immediately owing to the increased risk of wrongful detention, noting also that US payment cards do not work in Russia, and commercial flights are “extremely difficult” to obtain.

National Security Council Strategic Coordinator John Kirby said it wasn’t immediately clear if Mr Gershkovich’s detention was coordinated with Russian leadership, or aimed as retaliation for other grievances. Last week, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 37, a Russian national, was charged in a US District Court in Washington, D.C. for acting as an agent of a foreign power, visa fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and other charges stemming from his alleged illegal activities in the US, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was “alarmed by what looks like ­retaliation”.

RSF said Gershkovich “was ­investigating the military company Wagner” – a mercenary group playing a prominent role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The problem is … the fact that the way the FSB interprets espionage today means that anyone who is simply interested in military affairs can be imprisoned for 20 years,” Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said on social media in response to the detention.

In Russia, espionage trials are often conducted in secret and it is rare for a court to acquit a defendant. Trials can take months to unfold.

“It’s a new low in the US-Russia relationship,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. The arrest of an accredited American reporter “is really setting a precedent.”

Before joining The Wall Street Journal, Mr Gershkovich worked for AFP in Moscow. A fluent Russian speaker, he was previously a reporter based in the Russian capital for The Moscow Times, an English-language news website.

His family immigrated to the US from Russia when he was a child.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, asked about the chance of an exchange for Mr Gershkovich, said it was premature to discuss the issue.

“I would not even raise the question right now” because past exchanges involved people already serving sentences, Mr Ryabkov was quoted by state newswire RIA Novosti as saying Thursday. “We’ll see how this story develops further.”

Mr Gershkovich dropped out of contact with his editors while working in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday afternoon.

A post later appeared on Telegram describing a man with his face hidden being bundled from a restaurant in the city and put into a waiting van. It couldn’t be determined whether the person was Mr Gershkovich.

A lawyer hired by the Journal attempted to find Mr Gershkovich at the FSB building in Yekaterinburg, but was told authorities had no information about him.

Mr Gershkovich later appeared in Moscow, where he was represented by a court-appointed lawyer.

According to TASS, which cited unnamed sources, Mr Gershkovich pleaded not guilty at the closed hearing. His case, according to TASS, is considered top secret.

Several US citizens are currently in detention in Russia and both Washington and Moscow have accused the other of carrying out politically motivated ­arrests.

The FSB in January opened a criminal case against a US citizen who it said was suspected of espionage but did not name the individual.

Paul Whelan, a former US marine, was arrested in Russia in 2018 and handed a 16-year sentence on espionage charges. He is detained in a penal colony south of Moscow. The US says he was a private citizen visiting Moscow on personal business and has demanded his release.

There have been several high-profile prisoner exchanges ­between Moscow and Washington over the past year.

In December, Moscow freed US basketball star Brittney Griner – arrested for bringing cannabis oil into the country – in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Russian authorities have also used espionage charges against Russian journalists. Last year, Russia jailed a respected defence reporter, Ivan Safronov, for 22 years on treason charges.

Safronov worked for business newspapers Kommersant and was one of Russia’s most prominent journalists covering defence.

Gershkovich’s arrest comes as Western journalists in Russia face increasing restrictions.

Staff of Western media outlets often report being tailed, particularly during trips outside of major urban hubs of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Many Russians fear speaking to foreign media, because of strict censorship laws adopted in the wake of the Ukraine offensive.

With Dow Jones, AFP