WASHINGTON, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States on Thursday condemned Russia’s detention of an American journalist writing for The Wall Street Journal and said it was seeking consular access.
US officials said they were in touch with the family of detained journalist Evan Gershkovich as well as the newspaper and that the State Department had contacted Russia to seek consular access.
“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“I want to strongly reiterate that Americans should heed the US government’s warning to not travel to Russia. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately.”
President Joe Biden had been briefed on the detention, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement connected the detention to the crackdown on media in Russia, whose relations with Washington have nosedived since the invasion of Ukraine.
“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices,” Blinken said.
Russian authorities detained the American reporter for the Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, Russia’s top security agency has said.
The Federal Security Service (FSB), the top KGB successor agency, said on Thursday that Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information.
It alleged that Gershkovich “was collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret”.
He was covering the war in Ukraine, developments in Russia, and the Wagner mercenary group.
The FSB did not say when the detention took place. Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB, and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and unbiased reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the paper said in a statement.
He is the first reporter for an American news outlet to be detained on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War and his arrest comes amid bitter global tensions over the fighting in Ukraine.
Gershkovich, who was properly accredited as a journalist, works from the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow bureau. — NNN-AGENCIES
