Russia Detains American Journalist in ‘Dark Turn’ for Ties
- Court orders Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich held to May 29
- Journal rejects FSB spy allegation, seeks ‘immediate’ release
Evan Gershkovich
Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich for alleged espionage while he was on a reporting trip, the first time a US reporter has been held on spying charges since the Cold War.
The 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in Yekaterinburg, about 880 miles (1,400 kilometers) east of Moscow, by Federal Security Service agents and brought to Moscow, where a district court ordered him to be held until at least May 29. The case was classified as “top secret.”