Wall Street Journal Reporter Arrested in Russia on Spying Charges

Russia’s top security agency, the Federal Security Service arrested an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal on spying charges. This is the first arrest of any US journalist in Russia on spying accusations since the Cold War.

On Thursday, the Federal Security Service informed that the journalist of Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. He was alleged to be involved in obtaining classified information.

In a statement, The Wall Street Journal said, it is deeply concerned for Gershkovich’s safety.

This arrest comes at a time when tension is rife between the West and Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. He was released without charges 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s United Nations mission who was arrested by the FBI.