US ambassador to Russia visits Evan Gershkovich in Russian jail

Lynne M. Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, has visited Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist charged with espionage by Russian authorities, in his jail, The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich’s employer, reports.

The US Embassy has confirmed this, responding to an inquiry by RIA Novosti. This was the first time Tracy visited Gershkovich in jail since April.

In April and May, the Russian government denied Gershkovich’s request for consular access, in response to which the US denied visas to Russian journalists wishing to visit New York City with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Moscow City Court rejected Evan Gershkovich’s pretrial restrictions appeal. He will stay in a pretrial jail at least until August.

Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg on 29 March. Media reports suggest that he was surveying Russians about their attitudes towards the Wagner Group and travelled to the city of Nizhny Tagil where a defence-industry factory Uralvagonzavod is located. He was sent to a Moscow detention centre the next day. Bloomberg previously reported that Vladimir Putin personally gave the FSB the green light to take the reporter in custody.