Mar 30, 2023, 5:31 PM

Russia arrests American reporter on espionage charges

Russia arrests American reporter on espionage charges

TEHRAN, Mar. 30 (MNA) – Russia’s top security agency has said an American reporter has been arrested on espionage charges.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that Evan Gershkovich had been detained in the Ural Mountains city of Ekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information, according to The Guardian.

The security service announced that Gershkovich “was collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex”.

The FSB did not say when the arrest took place. Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.

Gershkovich is the first reporter for a US news outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the cold war. His arrest comes amid bitter tensions between Moscow and Washington DC over the fighting in Ukraine.

The FSB says that Gershkovich “was acting on the US orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex that constitutes a state secret”.

MNA/PR

News ID 198903

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