The Russian security services (FSB) announced on Thursday the arrest for espionage of the correspondent of the American newspaper
Wall Street Journal
, Evan Gershkovich.
The arrest of a foreign journalist on such a charge is unprecedented in recent Russian history.
"
The FSB foiled the illegal activity of the accredited correspondent (...) of the Moscow office of the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, the citizen of the United States Evan Gershkovich"
, indicated the Russian federal security service in a press release quoted by Russian agencies.
Spying on the military-industrial complex
He is “
suspected of spying for the benefit of the United States
” and of collecting information “ about a
Russian
military-industrial complex company ”.
Before joining the American daily in 2022, Mr Gershkovich was a correspondent for AFP in Moscow and before that for the English-language newspaper
Moscow Times
.
Perfectly Russian-speaking, the 31-year-old journalist is of Russian origin and his parents are settled in the United States.