Russia detains American journalist Michael Geršković on espionage charges

The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited Washington’s refusal to issue visas to Russian journalists who were supposed to accompany Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a visit to New York to participate in the UN Security Council session as a pretext for its decision. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called this refusal a provocation that will not go unanswered.

The refusal of US diplomats to visit Geršković in the pre-trial detention center on May 11 is only the first step. Other response measures are also being worked on, the ministry announced.
Geršković was detained on March 29 in Yekaterinburg and officially charged with espionage at the beginning of April.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims that the journalist collected information on a Russian military industrial company at the behest of the United States. The journalist, his employer and the US government have denied these accusations.

Geršković faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.

While working in the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow office, Gershkovich wrote about Russia and Ukraine.

Gershkovich is the first journalist from a US publication to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War.