U.S. ambassador to Russia visits jailed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

MOSCOW — The U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow stated in a web based assertion.

Tracy’s go to comes a day after Gershkovich‘s parents and sister appeared in the United Nation’s headquarters in New York and referred to as on world leaders to induce Russia to free the reporter, who was arrested earlier this yr in espionage expenses he and his employer reject.

Gershkovich, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained in late March within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow, whereas on a reporting journey. He has been held in Moscow‘s Lefortovo pre-trial detention heart, infamous for its harsh situations, ever since. Last month, a courtroom in Moscow prolonged his detention till the top of November.

Russia’s Federal Security Service stated Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

The authorities haven’t detailed what – if any – proof they’ve gathered to help the espionage expenses, which each Gershkovich and WSJ deny. The U.S. authorities declared him to be wrongfully detained. The case in opposition to Gershkovich, shrouded in secrecy, has rattled journalists each inside and out of doors Russia.

Tracy, the U.S. ambassador, visited Gershkovich in jail a number of occasions since his arrest, most lately in August. Following her go to on Friday, the U.S. embassy stated on X, the platform beforehand referred to as Twitter, that Gershkovich “remains strong and is keeping up with the news – including his parents’ appearance at the UN this week,” and reiterated the decision to launch him and one other American imprisoned in Russia on espionage expenses, Paul Whelan.

Gershkovich is the primary American reporter to face espionage expenses in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Analysts have identified that Moscow could also be utilizing jailed Americans as bargaining chips after U.S.-Russian tensions soared over the Kremlin’s navy operation in Ukraine.

At least two U.S. residents arrested in Russia lately – together with WNBA star Brittney Griner – have been exchanged for Russians jailed within the U.S.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has beforehand stated it might think about a swap for Gershkovich solely within the occasion of a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage investigations and trials can final for greater than a yr.