NEW YORK — The Russian prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will stand trial on espionage charges, terminating any future pre-detention appeals.
In an official statement, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation declared, “The criminal case against U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich has been approved, and the case has been sent to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court for consideration on the merits.” The statement further claimed, “The investigation established that Gershkovich, under instructions from the CIA in March 2023, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod, which is involved in the production and repair of military equipment.”
Gershkovich has consistently denied any involvement in espionage, and the U.S. State Department has classified him as wrongfully detained. This announcement marks the first instance where prosecutors have publicly accused Gershkovich of working for the CIA, alleging without evidence that he was gathering “secret information” on a tank factory in the Sverdlovsk region. Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. government, and his colleagues vehemently dispute these accusations, asserting that he was merely performing his duties as a journalist. Gershkovich was on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Sverdlovsk region, when he was arrested in March 2023.
Initially, prosecutors had alleged that Gershkovich was working for an unspecified foreign intelligence service.
In a joint statement, Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour, and Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said, “Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge. Russia’s move toward a sham trial is deeply disappointing and outrageous.” They emphasized, “Evan has spent 441 days wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for simply doing his job. The Russian regime’s smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting, and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime. Evan’s case is an assault on the free press.”
In an interview with ABC News in March, Gershkovich’s parents expressed cautious optimism about the progress in their son’s case. His mother, Ella Milman, stated, “We know that the U.S. government is taking Evan’s case very seriously.” She added, “If you let the pessimism in, the game is over. Our family motto is to keep moving forward.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed Gershkovich’s detention on June 5, remarking, “The United States administration is taking energetic steps for his release, but such issues are not resolved through the media. A quiet, calm professional approach and dialogue between intelligence services are preferred.” Putin continued, “You believe he is innocent, while Russian law enforcement and special services believe he committed illegal actions, which are called espionage. I will not go into details.”
Gershkovich most recently appeared in a Moscow court on April 23 for a pretrial hearing as part of an appeal against the espionage charges. His appeal was denied, and he was ordered to be held until at least June 30. Despite the circumstances, Gershkovich managed a smile and gave a thumbs-up when asked by ABC News inside the courtroom how he was doing.
U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens provided an update on Thursday during a Capitol Hill hearing, explaining, “Gershkovich has one more appeal he can make regarding his detention. However, it is likely that before June 30, he will be transferred from Lefortovo prison in Moscow to Yekaterinburg, where the trial process will most likely commence.” Carstens added, “If it follows the pattern of cases like Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, and Trevor Reed, there will be a period when Gershkovich leaves Lefortovo during which we will have no contact with him, effectively leaving him in the dark.”