A reporter working for the Wall Street Journal was detained in Russia, according to media reports, and accused of espionage by prosecutors there. The Journal issued a statement denying the allegation against Evan Gerschkovich, who was arrested in Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich was on a reporting assignment in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg when he was detained by agents from Russia's Federal Security Services, the FSB, which accused him of carrying out "illegal activities" on behalf of the U.S. government.
In a statement, the agency alleged that Gershkovich, "acting on an assignment from the American side, was gathering information classified as a state secret about the activity of one of the enterprises of Russia's military-industrial complex."
Old hostage, new hostage.
