"There are no civilized ways to pull out a journalist, only exchange"

The correspondent of The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich was arrested on charges of espionage. What is known about this

The journalist of the American publication The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich was detained on March 29 in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage. On Thursday, March 30, he was taken to Moscow, where the Lefortovo court arrested Gershkovich for two months. He became the first American journalist detained in Russia on charges of espionage since 1986. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on American citizens living or traveling in Russia to immediately leave the country after the arrest of a journalist. The correspondent of Novaya Gazeta Europe gathered everything that is known about the detention and journalist of Gershkovich's activities.

The detention of the journalist Evan Gershkovich became known on the morning of March 30, one of the heroes of his text-Yekaterinburg PRArww Shirshikov wrote about this in his telegram channel. To his post, the man attached a screenshot from the Channel "Evening Vedomosti", which illuminates events in the Urals.

“Our reader witnessed the detention (or abduction) of a person in the center of Yekaterinburg - at the restaurant Bukowski Grill on Karl Liebknecht, presumably, the security forces in civilian man had a person in a minibus. When the detainee was pulled, a sweater was pulled on his head - so that the passers -by was not visible to the face. Employees of the institution refrained from comments. It was not possible to get an official comment from emergency services at the time of publication, ”the“ evening Vedomosti ”reported on the evening of March 29 said.

Shirsshikov said that a couple of weeks ago he gave Gershkovich an interview about the attitude to the Wagner PMC in Yekaterinburg society, carried him around the city and introduced him to other heroes. In a conversation with the BBC, the PR man also said that the journalist came to Yekaterinburg to write about Prigozhin and his scandal with the Governor of Yekaterinburg Evgeny Kuyvashev.

“Evan worked safely for several days and flew to Moscow. I saw this news yesterday (“evening shows”) and how it was scalded right away. Well, I think that it is going on !!! And he ran further on business. He went to bed, and somewhere at one in the morning a call from London. The sir named Thomas was alarmed to me that Evan returned to Wednesday to Yekaterinburg and stopped in touch for more than 9 hours. Like, he left my phone as amended in case something happens. And then I understand that Evan and I had lunch in Bukovsky and very close not only my office, but also the office of another hero of the material. It is easy to assume that in an unfamiliar city a person will go to familiar places, right? In addition, Evan even on Tuesday asked me for a meeting for today. I did not know that he flew yesterday. Apparently, I decided to get the material, ”writes Yaroslav.

Evan Gershkovich really turned out to be the detainees.

The FSB argues that Gershkovich on the instructions of the United States "was engaged in the collection of information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constituted Gostaina."

A criminal case has been opened against the journalist under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“espionage”), punishment - up to 20 years in prison. By the decision of the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow, the journalist was detained for a period of one month and 29 days, that is, until May 29, 2023. Lawyers did not allow him.

“He wanted to take a comment from the head of the house of officers, contacted the press service of the Central Military District, he was first agreed on the interview, and then they abruptly refused. So, perhaps, counterintelligence became interested in them, ”BBC quotes Shirsshikov’s words.

Wall Street Journal has published the news about the detention of a journalist in whom the FSB was quoted. The article says that the publication denies all charges against him, achieves immediate release and fears for his security. Novyevropus sent a request to WSJ, at the time of publication of the material there was no answer.

What do the official authorities of Russia say about the detention?

Evan Gershkovich is a citizen of America, actively working in Russia, lived in London lately. Before Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich collaborated with AFP, Moscow Times and New York Times. The journalist had a Russian visa and accreditation from the Foreign Ministry.

“What the American publication The Wall Street Journal has been doing in Yekaterinburg has nothing to do with journalism. Unfortunately, this is not the first time when the status of a “foreign correspondent”, a journalistic visa and accreditation are used by foreigners in our country to cover activities that are not journalism. Already not the first famous Westernist “grab the hand,” writes the official representative of the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on her telegram channel.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov even stated that the American journalist was "detained with red-handed."

What can the arrest of Gershkovich really be connected with?

Friends and colleagues of Gershkovich note that he led ordinary journalistic activities: he collected information on the topic that he developed. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, he covered its consequences for both Ukrainians and Russians.

Political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya believes that the arrest of Evan Gershkovich is an attempt to take a hostage for further exchange with Western countries.

"The FSB believes that the journalist" on the instructions of the United States was engaged in collecting information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military -industrial complex that constitute GOSTIN. " This, of course, is shock. We will wait for what the FSB will specifically present, but it seems that they took the hostage. There is someone, for example, to exchange, for example, to Vladislav Klyushin (a Russian arrested in Switzerland, who created the M-13 company, specializing in IT products for monitoring the media and social networks- approx .), Which failed to pull out the last exchange, ”says the political scientist.

According to Stanovaya,

The current Russian legislation allows you to plant 20 years for espionage of anyone who is simply interested in military affairs, that is, writes about the war,

PMC, the state of affairs in the army, the equipment of the troops of ammunition, military tactics and strategy.

“The“ collection of information ”itself, which can imply a completely ordinary collection of comments from experts or searching for information on the network, is sufficient to charged. It is interesting that the FSB evasively states that Evan acted “on the instructions of the American side”, which can be interpreted in the broadest sense. The editors of WSJ is also an American side. From this it can be assumed that the FSB does not have anything that would indicate that Ewan worked for special services under the guise of a journalist. But this, of course, leads the relations of Russia and the United States to a new round of confrontation. The arrest of Evan Gershkovich is a conscious choice of the Kremlin in favor of such a hostage whose arrest would have raised a serious indignation in the western circles that create pressure on the Biden administration in order to start a conversation with Moscow on exchange. Dmitry Peskov’s statement that Gershkovich was “taken with red -handed” is a direct evidence that Putin is behind all this, and there will be no civilized ways to pull out a journalist. Only an exchange, ”says Tatyana Stanovaya.

The same assumptions are expressed by colleagues and friends of Gershkovich. The journalist-investigator Andrei Zakharov recalls that at the beginning of the year in Slovenia, on suspicion of espionage, two Russian illegal immigrants were detained, who lived there under the guise of Argentines. Meanwhile, in the “exchange fund of Russia” there was only US citizen Paul Wylan, convicted in 2020 on charges of espionage.

“Evan is a bright, indifferent and brave enthusiast-journalist. The very fact that he achieved a visa to Russia was not afraid, came here in the dark, when many journalists prefer to simply not go to Russia, says his character, ”says journalist Pavel Kanygin. - It caused concern for him. He decided to go to the Urals, to the area where there is simply a huge number of defense enterprises. He was supposed to give a report on the life of Yekaterinburg, about the consequences of the war. ”

Pavel Kanygin compared the detention of Gershkovich with how in 2015 the FSB officers detained him in the “DPR” and tried to accuse of espionage. As the journalist recalls, as evidence, the security forces then had the presence of business cards of Ukrainian, French and American correspondents, as well as a notebook with records in English.

“They immediately have the conclusion: if there are business cards and notes, then you are connected either with British or American intelligence. Then it seemed to me just an absurdity, a terrible dream. Because of this illogical nonsense, you are threatened with a prison. In the case of Evan, I think there are several tasks. On the one hand, he was arrested for subsequent exchange for some Russian intelligence officers.

And the second task is to scare: do not come to us anymore foreign unsuitable journalists. The government also sends a signal that traveling around the regions comes to an end.

It seems most plausible and logical that they simply seized the first American who came across, with the absence of any evidence base, ”Kanygin suggests.

Evan's friend Arina [the name was changed at the request of the heroine, -approx .] Told Novy-Europe that there were no threats or warnings before the journalist was detained, but he noticed surveillance.

“He left Russia before the war and came only at work. But always officially, with the accreditation of the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry knew what he was doing here, and he understood where he was going. The last time we met two weeks ago, sat quietly, discussed his plans, that is, there was an absolutely everyday conversation, he did not suspect anything, ”recalls Arina.

After the war began, many foreign journalists left Russia, and the Foreign Ministry introduced a new rule: every three months, journalists must re -receive a visa and accreditation.

“Ewan was extending each time, because it was important for him to work in Russia. What Maria Zakharova says is stupidity. It seems to me that she herself understands that she is just lying. Evan always had the task of listening to people, telling how they see the world. He never approached work in Russia as: “So I know that these are quilted jackets, these are Z-activists, I’ll write about them only like that”, he, on the contrary, was talking to everyone, trying to hear, to find out what really bothers them. And it seems to me that this is a very important quality for a journalist, especially a foreign one. He very well understood the whole context of Russian. Evan is one of the most honest people I know. He always believed that the maximum that could be done with him did not extend the visa. And for him even that would be a great tragedy. And what happened does not fit into any ideas at all, ”the girl says.