Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest and detention of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation.
The report claims that the initiative to arrest Gershkovich came from top officials of Russian security services and was endorsed by Putin.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says that Vladimir Putin had nothing to do with Gershkovich’s arrest and did not order it.
“No, this is not the president’s prerogative. This is what the special forces are for, they’re doing their job,” Peskov claims.
Evan Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg on 29 March. According to media reports, he was interested in the opinions of Russians towards the mercenary Wagner Group and visited the city of Nizhny Tagil where Uralvagonzavod, a major defence-related industry facility, is located.
The journalist was arrested by a Moscow court the next day.
Earlier this week, the Department of State officially designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained” — a status that allows Washington to launch swap negotiations. According to the WSJ report citing US officials, the designation happened at an “unprecedented” speed — this drawn out bureaucratic process normally takes months.
US Secretary of State Anton Blinken urged his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to release Gershkovich immediately. Days earlier, US President Joe Biden made a similar call to the Russian side.
