The court found Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penal colony. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Gershkovich collected secret data on the operations of the Uralvagonzavod defense company, which produces and repairs military equipment.
Gershkovich pleaded not guilty to the charges. His colleagues also maintained the journalist’s innocence.
On March 30, 2023, Evan Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg and subsequently transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Moscow. According to media outlets from Sverdlovsk Oblast, he had come to the city to write about Russian citizens' attitudes toward the Wagner PMC.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin hinted at the possibility of exchanging Evan Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a member of the Russian intelligence services who had been arrested in Germany.
