How Russia’s espionage case against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich unfolded
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted on Friday of espionage charges in an unusually rapid trial in the country’s highly politicized legal system
Here are key developments in Russia’s case against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was convicted on Friday of espionage charges in an unusually rapid trial in the country's highly politicized legal system. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.
Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government have vehemently denied the charges. U.S. officials and The Wall Street Journal have denounced the trial as a sham.
March 29, 2023 – Gershkovich, 31 at the time and on a reporting trip, is arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, about 1,670 kilometers (1,035 miles) east of Moscow.
March 30, 2023 – Russia’s Federal Security Service, a domestic security agency known by the acronym the FSB, issues a statement accusing Gershkovich of acting on U.S. orders to collect state secrets. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claims that the journalist was “caught red-handed.” Officials don’t provide any evidence and don't disclose any further details. The case is classified as secret, as is customary for espionage and treason cases in Russia. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government deny the charges. Gershkovich appears in a Moscow court and is ordered into pretrial detention in the notorious Lefortovo Prison.
