The FSB detained Evan Gershkovich, reporter for the American edition of the Wall Street Journal, in Yekaterinburg. The intelligence service claims that the journalist “gathered information on one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, which, at the direction of the United States, constitutes a state secret.” A criminal case was opened against him for espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
“The illegal activities of Gershkovich Evan, born in 1991, is suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government, correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited in the Russian Foreign Ministry. suppressed,” said the FSB.
Security forces added that Gershkovich was detained “trying to obtain classified information”.
according to the newspaper “Kommersant”, the journalist is scheduled to be handed over to Moscow and arrested at the Lefortovo court. The case is being handled by the FSB’s head office. The reporter faces up to 20 years in prison.
March 29 edition “Evening Newspaper” He reported that near the Bukowski Grill restaurant on Karl Liebknecht Street in Yekaterinburg, “civilian security forces put a man in a sweater on a minibus”.
The newspaper wrote, “While the prisoner was being taken, a sweater was put on his head so that passers-by would not see his face.” That same evening, the journalist stopped communicating last online at 13:28 Moscow time on March 29.
detention day
The disappearance of Gershkovich on the morning of March 30 was reported by Yaroslav Shirshikov, the author of the Yekaterinburg PR and Hussar Bravado Telegram channel, speaking with the journalist. He said he gave an interview to the WSJ reporter about two weeks ago.
“First of all, he was concerned with the attitude towards PMC Wagner in society,” said the public relations officer.
In an interview with socialbites.ca, Shirshikov said that the editorial management has already responded to his arrest.
“The management called me for some reason not from New York, but from London. “They said they would send defenders and cooperate over the diplomatic line,” he said.
The public relations officer also repeated that the journalist wrote material in Yekaterinburg about his attitude towards the founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin in the city.
“In Yekaterinburg, he was expelled several times, up to our governor. Therefore, he came to find out how representatives of civil society in Yekaterinburg relate to this figure and Wagner PMC in general. Shirshikov met with a deputy of the district parliament, a simple hard worker and the editor-in-chief of one of the media in the city, ”said Shirshikov.
According to the PR officer, after the interview, Evan Gershkovich went to Moscow.
“He spent four days in Yekaterinburg, two of which I fully accompanied him. Then he flew to Moscow with the photographer and apparently decided to return to Yekaterinburg to collect the material. He wrote to me on Tuesday, March 28, whether I objected to the meeting held on Thursday, March 30. Of course I accepted. And he disappeared on Wednesday, ”said the interlocutor of socialbites.ca.
Shirshikov also said he got a call from a number in London on the night of March 30. A man named Thomas said that Gershkovich returned to Yekaterinburg on March 29 and stopped communicating.
Reaction of colleagues and Russian officials
The international organization Reporters Without Borders commented on the journalist’s arrest, saying it was “alarmed” by it. According to representatives of the organization, the detention appears to be a “retaliatory measure” for Gershkovich’s work in investigating the activities of Wagner PMC.
“Journalists should not be targeted!” – says expression Reporters Without Borders.
Colleagues of the reporter from the Wall Street Journal’s editorial staff expressed “deep concern” for Evan Hershkovich’s safety after his detention.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry claims that the work of the WSJ correspondent in Yekaterinburg “has nothing to do with journalism.”
“Unfortunately, it is not the first time that foreign correspondent status, journalism visa and accreditation are used by foreigners in our country to cover up non-journalistic activities. Department spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she was not the first prominent Westerner to be “handicapped”.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov pointed out that the issue of detention is “the privilege of the FSB”. “We have nothing to add here. All I can say is, as far as we know, he was caught red-handed,” he said.
What did Gershkovich do in Yekaterinburg?
Deputy of the Sverdlovsk Legislative Assembly Vyacheslav Wegner told the publication 66.RUThe Wall Street Journal interviewed.
According to Wegner, Gershkovich came to interview “various people they call us patriots.” He asked his interlocutors about public support for the military operation in Ukraine, the cargo sent to the DPR and the activities of the Wagner PMC.
“He said that your hamers (HIMARS – ed.) carved everything they could. I was also particularly interested in the activities of Wagner PMC, I asked why I was writing to Prigozhin. And about industrial enterprises [спрашивал]How they were redirected during the NWO,” said the MP.
According to him, he and the journalist “spoke warmly” and “drank a bottle of cognac for two.” “So you can write that Wegner drank brandy with an American spy,” the MP added.
Journalist Dmitry Kolezev (known as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) said that the American correspondent could travel to other cities in the Sverdlovsk region, where defense enterprises are located.
“Evan took a lot of risks when he went to prepare such material, but he was well aware of the risks. He wasn’t reckless.” Kolezev wrote on the Telegram channel.
Citing a source, the Meduza publication (the organization was included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) reported that in addition to Yekaterinburg, Gershkovich visited Nizhny Tagil, where Uralvagonzavod is located.
Evan Gershkovich has lived in Moscow for six years and is accredited by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The reporter covers events in Russia, Ukraine and the countries of the former Soviet Union. In an interview with the broadcast “Shopping centre” Gershkovich said his family left the USSR for the United States in 1979.
She previously worked at Agence France-Presse and The New York Times, and came to Russia in 2017 to find a job at The Moscow Times. Gershkovich’s latest article was published by the Wall Street Journal on March 28.