The arrest of her American correspondent Wall Street Journal V MoscowIvan Gerskovich, with his ward espionagethis is another incident that leads to a further breakdown in relations USA – Russia.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in a statement accused the 32-year-old Gershkovich of “receiving instructions from the United States to collect information about one of the Russian military industry companies, which constitutes a state secret.” “The FSB stopped the illegal activities of a correspondent accredited to the Russian Foreign Ministry (…) of the Moscow branch of the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, US citizen Ivan Gershkovich.”

Gershkovich was taken into custody in Yekaterinburg, a city about 900 miles east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains, according to Russian state media. A few hours after the FSB statement, the Kremlin commented on the journalist’s detention. “We are not talking about suspicions,” said Dmitry Peskov. “He was caught red-handed,” he added, without going into details.

What the Wall Street Journal says

From her side The Wall Street Journal said it “categorically denies the FSB allegations and calls for the immediate release of the trusted and dedicated journalist.”“. She even expressed her solidarity with both Gerskovich and his family.

The US Embassy in Moscow does not comment.

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The public organization Reporters Without Borders expressed concern about the arrest, which, in its words, “looks like revenge.” According to Reporters Without Borders, Gerskovich was investigating Wagner, a mercenary military organization fighting alongside Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Russian diplomacy insisted that the journalist was “caught red-handed.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram that the actions of the Wall Street Journal correspondent “have nothing to do with journalism.”

France expressed concern, urging Moscow to respect freedom of the press. “We are particularly concerned and condemn Russia’s repressive stance” against both the Russian and foreign press, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Clair Lesondre said at a briefing.

This is the first arrest of an American journalist in Russia on charges of espionage since the September 1986 KGB arrest of Nikolai Danilov, US News and World Report correspondent in Moscow. Danilov was released 20 days later in exchange for a member of the Soviet Union mission to the UN arrested by the FBI.

Who is Ivan Gershkovich?

I. Gerskovich has been working in Russia at the WSJ since January 2022, having previously worked for AFP and the Moscow Times. Prior to that, he was a news assistant at The New York Times.

In recent months, Gershkovich has been writing articles about the Russian economy, as well as the war in Pskov, a city in western Russia that is the base of the airborne division that captured the Ukrainian Butsa, where Russian soldiers are accused of atrocities.

ChTD’s Telegram channel, linked to exiled Russian tycoon and Vladimir Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, called Gershkovich a “hostage.”

Ivan Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Espionage trials in Russia can take months and are usually held in secret.

In his latest article, published earlier this week, Gershkovich focuses on the impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy.

Griner and Whelan cases

Gerskovich’s arrest follows a December exchange in which WNBA star Brittney Griner was released after 10 months in prison, along with the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Another American, Paul Whelan, a Michigan-based corporate security chief, has been held in a Russian prison since December 2018 on charges of espionage that his family and the US government say are unfounded.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov said that the question of a possible exchange of Gershkowitz “is not worth it,” RIA reported. According to IFX, there have been prisoner exchanges in the past for those already convicted. “Let’s see how the situation develops,” Ryabkov commented to the agency.

Media suppression

“The problem is how the FSB interprets espionage today (…) anyone who is just interested in military affairs risks being behind bars for 20 years,” Russian political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya wrote on Facebook. As he points out, Russia tightened its anti-spy laws after invading Ukraine.

The Russian authorities also accused Russian journalists of espionage. Last year, Russia imprisoned 22-year-old former military journalist Ivan Safronov on charges of treason. Safronov worked for the Kommersant newspaper and was one of Russia’s best-known national defense journalists.

Gershkovich’s arrest comes at a time when Western journalists in Russia are facing mounting restrictions. Surveillance is frequently reported by Western media personnel, especially when traveling outside the major urban centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg.