US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy has visited Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested on charges of spying, the US Embassy tweeted.
“[It’s] the first time we’ve been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago. He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release,” the tweet reads.
Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg on 29 March. Media reports suggest that he was surveying Russians about their attitudes towards the Wagner Group and travelled to the city of Nizhny Tagil where a defence-industry factory Uralvagonzavod is located. He was sent to a Moscow detention centre the next day.
Bloomberg previously reported that Vladimir Putin personally gave the FSB the green light to take the reporter in custody. At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the report that Putinw as involved in the arrest, noting that “it is the security services’ job”.
Earlier, the US State Department officially designated Gershkovich as “unlawfully detained” in a move that paves the way for a prisoner swap. Moreover, US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have already urged the Kremlin to release the journalist.
Bloomberg, NYT, The Washington Post, Politico, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Russian independent journalists have echoed this call in support of Gershkovich.
The Wall Street Journal has categorically denied the FSB accusations and demands that the reporter be immediately let go. Gershkovich joined the newspaper in January 2022.
