Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” violating Russian law, the Kremlin said on Tuesday after the US State Department officially designated the journalist as being “wrongfully detained.”
When asked about the US decision to declare Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov maintained Russia’s position that the 31-year-old journalist had broken the law.
“I don’t understand what kind of innovations this new regime is introducing. As for what it means, I don’t know,” Peskov said.
He then noted that Gershkovich had “been caught red-handed and violated the laws of the Russian Federation,” before saying: “This is what he’s suspected of, but of course, the court will make a decision.”
Gershkovich has been detained by Russia for nearly two weeks after being arrested on March 29 on suspicion of espionage. Russia has not presented any evidence to justify his arrest.
The Journal and US officials have also vehemently denied that he is guilty of any wrongdoing.
“Journalism is not a crime,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday. “We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”
The department restated its call on Russia to release Gershkovich as well as Paul Whelan, a former Marine sentenced to 16 years in prison by Russian authorities who accused him of spying.
The decision to formally declare Gershkovich as wrongfully detained came at record speed compared to past incidents of Americans imprisoned abroad, according to the Journal. But the designation will grant US government agencies more resources to work toward his secure release.
It also allows the State Department to put greater pressure on Russia, monitor intelligence, build diplomatic coalitions, and more.
The Biden administration called the spy accusation “ridiculous” and said Gershkovich has never worked for the US government.
Officials have declined to say whether the US would consider a prisoner swap to secure Gershkovich’s safe return home.
Gershkovich, a US national whose parents emigrated from the Soviet Union, has reported on Russia for six years at various publications including the Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times.
He is the first foreign reporter to be charged with spying in Russia since the Cold War.