US journalist, Evan Gershkovich, will go on trial for espionage charges in Russia’s Yekaterinburg on June 26, with proceedings to be held behind closed doors.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in March 2023 during a reporting trip and has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since, becoming the first Western journalist arrested for spying in Russia since the Soviet era.
Russia’s prosecutor general accused Gershkovich of working for the CIA and gathering secret information about tank maker Uralvagonzavod in the Sverdlovsk region where he was arrested.
The United States and The Wall Street Journal have dismissed these charges as baseless. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed interest in a prisoner exchange for the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident.
Gershkovich has denied all charges against him. However, he faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.