Russia | Journalist Evan Gershkovich accused of collecting information for the CIA

(Moscow) The Russian Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that American journalist Evan Gershkovich would soon be tried in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, for “espionage”, accused of having collected information on a tank factory on behalf of the CIA, Washington and NATO, for their part, are demanding his “immediate” release.

This 32-year-old Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalist was arrested in March 2023 by the Russian security services (FSB) during a report in Yekaterinburg. He, his relatives, his employer and his country denounce a fabricated affair, while Russia has never substantiated its accusations.

“The criminal case has been sent to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court for consideration on its merits,” the Russian Prosecutor’s Office said. It is now up to the court to set the date for the start of the trial.

“These accusations have zero credibility,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, adding that “the accusations against him are false and the Russian government knows they are false.” He again called for his “immediate” release.

“I join the United States in calling on Russia to release journalist Evan Gershkovich. He is a journalist, he carries out his work as a journalist on behalf of a free media and, therefore, he must be released,” reacted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“The step that Russia has just taken to organize a mock trial is not surprising, but very disappointing” and “scandalous”, the management of the WSJ had previously reacted, saying they expected “the American government to redouble its efforts” for the release of the journalist.

The prosecution claimed that the reporter had “collected secret information” on the Uralvagonzavod company on behalf of American intelligence.

Uralvagonzavod is one of Russia’s largest arms manufacturers, producing, among other things, the T-90 main battle tanks used in Ukraine and the new-generation Armata tank, as well as freight cars.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, “the investigation established and documented that Gershkovich […] was tasked by the CIA in March 2023 to collect secret information in the Sverdlovsk region on the activities of (this) defense company.”

Evan Gershkovich, who worked for AFP in Moscow between 2020 and 2021, rejects these accusations of “espionage”, punishable by 20 years in prison.

Russia has never publicly provided any evidence and the entire procedure has been classified. The prosecutor did not provide any additional information on Thursday.

These accusations are of unprecedented gravity since the end of the USSR for a foreign journalist.

Washington accuses Moscow of having taken it hostage to obtain an exchange, as has already been the case in the past.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was willing to exchange the journalist for Vadim Krassikov, imprisoned for life in Germany for the assassination of a former Chechen war commander in Berlin in 2019.

At the beginning of June, Mr. Putin again indicated that contacts were “constant” between Russia and the United States to reach an agreement.

“I won’t go into details. I know that the American administration is acting energetically to obtain his release,” the Russian president said, stressing that these talks must be carried out with the greatest discretion.

Efforts for such an agreement could, however, have taken a more complicated turn since the death in prison of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny who, according to his entourage, was also part of a prisoner exchange project currently under negotiation.

In March, the American ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, said that Mr. Gershkovich “has shown remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation,” calling on Moscow to release him without delay.

Since the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, Russian justice has systematically extended, every two to three months, his pre-trial detention in Lefortovo prison, held by the FSB in Moscow.  

Like him, former American Marine Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia since 2018, is also awaiting an exchange and rejects the espionage accusations which earned him a 16-year prison sentence.

Dual nationals have also been recently arrested. Russian-American Ksenia Karelina was arrested in February, accused of “high treason” for making a donation to the Ukrainian army.

Before her, a Russian-American journalist, Alsu Kurmasheva, working for the RFE/RL media funded by the US Congress, was arrested in October 2023. She is accused of disseminating “false information” about the Russian army.

Russia also detained in early June a French national, Laurent Vinatier, who worked for a Swiss conflict resolution NGO and was accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent” collecting information on the Russian military.

The United States has given “zero credibility” to the charges against American journalist Evan Gershkovich and on Thursday called again for his “immediate” release.

“These accusations have zero credibility,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, adding that “the accusations against him are false and the Russian government knows they are false.”