Russia has ‘irrefutable evidence’ that US journalist Gershkovich is a spy – Lavrov

Evan Gershkovich has been charged with gathering intelligence about the Russian military industry

Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia is not an attack on journalism or freedom of speech, as Moscow has irrefutable evidence of his involvement in espionage, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated.

The Wall Street Journal journalist was arrested in Ekaterinburg in March 2023 while attempting to gather classified information about a military facility, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

“We have irrefutable evidence that Gershkovich was engaged in espionage,” Lavrov said at a press conference in New York on Wednesday during his visit to the US as part of Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council.

Lavrov noted that Russian and American intelligence agencies are in contact regarding potential prisoner swaps, under an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden established before June 2021.

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“The topic doesn’t like haste,” Lavrov said, adding, “Americans periodically throw it into the public space, which doesn’t help.” Despite this, he emphasized that the two countries are in contact on the matter and that “this whole thing is no attack on journalism.”

Gershkovich was formally charged in a Russian court last month, accused of acting on behalf of foreign intelligence when he attempted to collect classified information about Uralvagonzavod, a major Russian tank and armored vehicle manufacturer, in Ekaterinburg. Both The Wall Street Journal and Gershkovich have denied the allegations, claiming he is being held unlawfully.

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The American was gathering “classified information in secret” and was “caught red-handed,” Putin told journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview in February. Putin added that Moscow was open to swapping Gershkovich, citing previous successful negotiations between the countries’ intelligence services, and noting that the US and its allies have more imprisoned Russians who might be offered in exchange.

Late last year, the US and Russia conducted a high-profile prisoner exchange, swapping Russian businessman Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner. Bout was imprisoned in the US on gun-running charges, which he denied, while Griner was serving a nine-year prison sentence on drug charges after cannabis oil was found in her luggage at a Moscow airport.