The Wall Street Journal denies Russian accusations against its journalist detained in Yekaterinburg

The newspaper The Wall Street Journal denied this Thursday the Russian government’s accusations against its correspondent Evan Gershkovicdetained in the city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, and demanded his immediate release.

“The Wall Street Journal strongly denies the allegations (…) and demands the immediate release of our (…) correspondent Evan Hershkowitz”said the outlet in a statement published on its website.

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The newspaper noted that Gershkovich, who is American, worked in the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal. and was covering events in Russia, adding that he sent all his “solidarity to Evan and his family.”

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Urals, and accused him of alleged espionage, the press department of this entity reported today.

“The FSB aborted the illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow branch of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal and American citizen Evan Gershkovich, suspected of espionage in the interest of the US Government”, the FSB specified to the Interfax agency.

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“As far as we know, they caught him red-handed.” For his part, in his daily telephone press conference, the press secretary of the Russian Presidency stated, Dimitro Peskov, who added that this detention “is a prerogative of the FSB, which thus combats spies.” Peskov refused to give more information about it, saying that he does not know the details.

When asked about the possibility of Russia taking action against other informants of the American newspaper, including possible expulsion from the country, the Kremlin spokesman said that “accredited journalists who work normally will be able to continue working.”

Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharovawrote in turn on his Telegram channel that “what the employee of The Wall Street Journal was doing in Yekaterinburg It has nothing to do with journalism.”

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.