The United States demands once again that Russia release "spy journalists"
According to Agence France Presse, on August 24th, the United States once again demanded that Russia release the Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovic and another detained American, after a Moscow court extended Gershkovic's detention period.
According to the report, a spokesperson for the US State Department said, "The accusations against Evan Gershkovic are unfounded. We once again demand that Russia immediately release Evan and release American citizen Paul Whelan, who was wrongly detained."
According to previous reports by Russian media, the Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Agency reported on March 30th that Gershkovic was arrested in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of engaging in espionage activities. The Russian Federal Security Agency has determined that Gershkovic acted in accordance with US instructions, "collecting intelligence that constitutes state secrets about the business of a Russian military industrial enterprise.". He was caught on the spot while trying to obtain secret information.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova previously stated, "Before Gershkovic, we had caught journalists engaged in similar activities many times, but not publicly."
Former US Marine Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in 2020 and is currently serving his sentence in Russia. Huilan, who holds multiple nationalities, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 when he was carrying a USB drive containing confidential information.