In a recent development from Russia, American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been incarcerated for over a year on charges of espionage, is set to face trial in the city of Yekaterinburg, located in the Ural Mountains.
This information was confirmed by Russian authorities on Thursday.
As reported by ABC News, the indictment against Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, has been finalized. His case has been submitted to the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in Yekaterinburg, a city situated approximately 870 miles east of Moscow, according to the office of Russias Prosecutor General.
The charges against Gershkovich allege that he was "gathering secret information" on behalf of the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a facility in the Sverdlovsk region known for the production and repair of military equipment. This information was disclosed by the Prosecutor Generals office in a statement, shedding light on the specifics of the accusations against the American journalist for the first time.
However, the Russian officials have not provided any evidence to substantiate these allegations. Furthermore, no information has been released regarding the commencement of the trial.
The Biden administration has been actively seeking Gershkovich's release, but Russia's Foreign Ministry has stated that it would only consider a prisoner exchange following a verdict in his trial.
Gershkovich was apprehended in March 2023 during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, under accusations of espionage for the United States. These allegations have been vehemently denied by Gershkovich, his employer, and the U.S. government, with Washington declaring him as wrongfully detained.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, claimed that Gershkovich was acting under U.S. orders to gather state secrets, but they too failed to provide any evidence to support this claim.
Uralvagonzavod, a state-owned tank and railroad car factory located in the city of Nizhny Tagil, approximately 60 miles north of Yekaterinburg, gained recognition in 2011-12 as a stronghold of support for President Vladimir Putin.
Igor Kholmanskih, a foreman at the plant, appeared on Putins annual phone-in program in December 2011 and criticized the mass protests happening in Moscow at the time as a threat to "stability." He suggested that he and his colleagues travel to the capital to help quell the unrest. A week later, Putin appointed Kholmanskikh as his envoy in the region.
President Putin has expressed his belief that a deal could be reached to secure Gershkovich's release, hinting at a potential prisoner exchange for a Russian national currently imprisoned in Germany, presumably Vadim Krasikov. Krasikov is serving a life sentence for the 2019 murder of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent in Berlin.
When questioned about Gershkovich last week, Putin stated that the U.S. is "taking energetic steps" to secure his release. He emphasized that such releases "aren't decided via mass media" but through a "discreet, calm and professional approach." He further added that any such decisions should be based on the principle of reciprocity, hinting at a potential prisoner swap.
If convicted, Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison. His arrest marks the first time a U.S. journalist has been taken into custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, during the peak of the Cold War. This incident has sent shockwaves through the community of foreign journalists in Russia, especially considering the country's increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech following its military intervention in Ukraine.
Gershkovich, the son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, is fluent in Russian. He moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before joining the Journal in 2022.
Since his arrest, Gershkovich has been held at Moscows Lefortovo Prison, a notorious czarist-era prison known for its use during Josef Stalins purges, where executions were carried out in its basement.
U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, who has regularly visited Gershkovich in prison and attended his court hearings, has labeled the charges against him as "fiction." She has accused Russia of "using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends."
This notion seems to be reinforced by the fact that several U.S. nationals and other Westerners have been detained by Russian authorities since their military intervention in Ukraine.
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