The seriousness of the espionage charges against detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the fact that Moscow shows no sign of backing down means the U.S. will face an uphill battle freeing him, experts say.
, an American arrested in 2018 while visiting Moscow. He was convicted on espionage charges, which the U.S. vehemently denies, and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison colony.
The Russian government has denied that Cherkasov is a spy, and he has not yet appeared in court to address the allegations made by American investigators. Gilbert said Russia has also expressed interest in a deal that would secure the release of Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov, a convicted assassin serving a life sentence in Germany since 2019.However, drawing a third country in to such an exchange could establish a dangerous precedent for the U.S., according to administration officials, who have also expressed doubt over Russia’s interest in Krasikov is genuine or another negotiating tactic.
“There’s a strong retaliatory aspect to this,” Woodward said. “I’m sure [Gershkovich] developed some good information and leads.” “In Evan’s case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention, and there's a process to do that, and it is something that we are working through very deliberately but expeditiously as well,” Blinken said during a press briefing on Wednesday. “And I'll let that process play out. In my own mind, there's no doubt that he's being wrongfully detained by Russia.”
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Wall Street Journal reporter ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia, Blinken saysSecretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the State Department was working “very deliberately but expeditiously” to decide whether reporter Evan Gershkovich meets agency criteria to begin a broad government effort to secure his release.
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Wall Street Journal Reporter Officially Charged With Espionage in RussiaWall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich has officially been charged with espionage by the Russian Federal Security Service.
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Russia charges Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich with espionageRussian investigators have formally charged Evan Gershkovich with espionage but the Wall Street Journal reporter denied the charges.
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