US journalist Evan Gershkovich, 31, is arrested in Russia on suspicion of spying after visiting Yekaterinburg to write about the feared Wagner group for the Wall Street Journal
- The FSB said Evan Gershkovich was held over alleged ‘illegal activities’
- He was ‘acting on instructions’ from the US government, it was alleged
A US journalist has been detained in Russia suspected of espionage, the FSB state security service said.
Evan Gershkovich, 31, was held in Yekaterinburg in the Urals where he was on an assignment for The Wall Street Journal.
The reporter – an accredited foreign correspondent in Moscow – was held over alleged ‘illegal activities’ and was ‘suspected of espionage for the US government’, said the FSB.
He was allegedly ‘engaged in the collection of information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex’ which constitute ‘state secrets’.
He was ‘acting on instructions’ from the US government, it was alleged.
Evan Gershkovich, 31, was held in Yekaterinburg in the Urals where he was on an assignment for The Wall Street Journal
Sources confirmed to Yekaterinburg publication It’s My City that the journalist for The Wall Street Journal had been detained
PMC Wagner mercenaries pose at Popasna (file photo). Russian reports suggest Gershkovich had gone to Yekaterinburg to write about the attitude of people to the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and the recruitment of locals for the Wagner private military company
‘While trying to obtain secret information, an American was detained in Yekaterinburg,’ said the FSB which provided no evidence for its accusations.
‘The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for the safety of Mr. Gershkovich,’ the Journal said in a statement.
Reports suggest he was held last night at the Bukowski Grill restaurant and led by plain-clothed officers to a waiting vehicle with a sweater pulled over his head.
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Pictured: Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group
Russian reports suggest he had gone to Yekaterinburg to write about the attitude of people to the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and the recruitment of locals for the Wagner private military company.
There was concern for Gershkovich when he failed to make contact with his editorial office.
He has lived in Moscow for six years, working as a journalist.
He is a US citizen born to parents from the Soviet Union.
Local sources said Gershkovich had made a trip to the city several weeks ago and had returned this week.
Russia has seldom made allegations of espionage against Western correspondents accredited to the country.
However, many accredited correspondents from Western media outlets left the country when the war started 13 months ago amid concerns it was unsafe to remain.
Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya suggested Gershkovich had been ‘taken hostage’ by the FSB.
Moscow has been accused in the past of arresting foreigners – especially Americans – to use in barter exchanges for Russians detained in the US.
Spying convictions can lead to up to 20-year jail sentences.
The Wagner Group is led by close Putin ally 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The reporter – an accredited foreign correspondent in Moscow – was held over alleged ‘illegal activities’ and was ‘suspected of espionage for the US government’, said the FSB
Gershkovich was allegedly ‘engaged in the collection of information about one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex’ which constitute ‘state secrets’
Gershkovich was ‘acting on instructions’ from the US government, it was alleged
‘While trying to obtain secret information, an American was detained in Yekaterinburg,’ said the FSB which provided no evidence for its accusations
There was concern for Gershkovich when he failed to make contact with his editorial office
Pictured: Evan Gershkovich.Moscow has been accused in the past of arresting foreigners – especially Americans – to use in barter exchanges for Russians detained in the US
Reports suggest he was held last night at the Bukowski Grill restaurant and led by plain-clothed officers to a waiting vehicle with a sweater pulled over his head
Pictured: The Bukowski Grill, where Gershkovich is reported to have been taken away by plain-clothed officers
Wagner mercenaries are deployed to further Russian interests abroad by doing the jobs that no official military branch could be associated with and have earned a reputation for using sheer force and brutality to achieve their goals.
Prigozhin, the chief financier and founder of PMC Wagner, claims his contractors are deployed across the border to help achieve the Russian president’s goal – the so-called ‘denazification’ of Ukraine.
The group has for years acted as Putin’s personal band of enforcers, though it maintains connections with Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Founded in 2014, Wagner contractors got straight to work following the annexation of Crimea, arming and organizing separatist groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine and setting in motion events which culminated earlier this year in Putin’s full-scale invasion of his neighbor.
What is the Wagner Group?
Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner is a mercenary group headed up by Russian oligarch and close Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The group has for years acted as Putin’s personal band of enforcers, though it maintains connections with Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Founded in 2014 by a sinister former lieutenant colonel of Russia’s ‘Spetsnaz’ special forces, Dmitry Utkin, Wagner got straight to work following the annexation of Crimea, arming and organising separatist groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Wagner group insignia is pictured
In the eight years between Crimea’s annexation and all-out war in Ukraine, Wagner mercs have been deployed abroad to covertly further Russian interests.
They were implicated in the Russian intervention in Syria where they helped to prop up the Assad regime, and went on to operate in countries throughout Africa including Mali, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Sudan.
Their goals differ in each region, but assignments almost invariably involve bolstering the military forces of the Kremlin’s preferred regimes by delivering weapons and training, and providing additional security services.
In return, Russia gains access to natural resources, investment opportunities and geopolitical influence.
Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) is the chief financier of the Wagner group and is a close ally of Russian President Putin (right)
An integral part of most Wagner assignments is gaining control over the local population and elements hostile to the regime – something in which the mercenaries have proved particularly ruthless.
The mercenaries have garnered a reputation for violence and brutality, achieving their goals by any means necessary.
The Wagner group is now deployed in a fighting capacity alongside regular Russian army soldiers in Ukraine, and has been credited with achieving much of Moscow’s success on the frontlines.
In autumn 2022, Prigozhin embarked on a mass recruitment drive in Russian prisons, signing up hardened criminals to swell his ranks and deploy them en-masse in Ukraine on suicidal missions to gain ground by using ‘human wave’ tactics.
As of March 2023, the Wagner group is receiving less support from the Russian military, as Prigozhin has a poor relationship with Russian armed forces commander Valery Gerasimov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
But his fighters are still heavily involved in combat operations across the frontlines in Ukraine.
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