Washington: Amid the reports of the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia on charges of espionage, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern over the arrest and urged US citizens ‘living or traveling in Russia – please leave immediately.’
U.S. Department of State Secretary Blinken took to Twitter and said “We are deeply concerned over Russia’s announcement it has detained a U.S. citizen journalist.”
The tweet further added that it’s the ‘highest priority’ of the U.S. Department of State to ensure “the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. If you are a U.S. citizen living or traveling in Russia – please leave immediately.”
We are deeply concerned over Russia’s announcement it has detained a U.S. citizen journalist. The @StateDept’s highest priority is the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. If you are a U.S. citizen living or traveling in Russia – please leave immediately.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 30, 2023
Earlier, WSJ in a statement said “The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for the safety of Gershkovich.”
According to reports, The Federal Security Services (FSB) said that the WSJ reporter was detained from the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while he allegedly tried to obtain classified information.
FSB in a statement alleged that “Gershkovich acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,”.
The FSB has also alleged that Gershkovich “was collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret,”.
The mention of the date of arrest was not there in its statement, however, Gershkovich could be imprisoned for about 20 years if he gets convicted of espionage. Gershkovich covers Russia and Ukraine and was duly accredited as a journalist as a correspondent for the WSJ’s Moscow office.
(With Agency Inputs)
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