Russian prosecutors announced on Thursday that they had sent the case of imprisoned US columnist Evan Gershkovich to court after finding that he had been obtaining information about a Russian container factory for the US Central Intelligence Agency. Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, in the Southeast city of Yekaterinburg on charges of spy that carry up to 20 years in prison after the FSB, the principal successor organization to the KGB, said it had caught him “red- handed” trying to obtain defense secrets.
Gershkovich and his boss, the Wall Street Journal, have unwaveringly denied the allegations, and the paper has repeatedly requested his instant release. The White House has called the claims “ridiculous”, with Prez Biden calling the detention” completely illegal”.
The business of Russia’s General Prosecutor said in a speech it had approved Gershkovich’s legal prosecution and that his situation would be heard by a jury in Yekaterinburg, where he was actually arrested. It did not specify when the situation may become heard or whether the test would be held behind closed doors, as is customary in such cases.
According to the prosecution ‘ speech,” The investigation established and confirmed with supporting evidence that Gershkovich, on the orders of the CIA, collected key information in the Sverdlovsk region in March 2023 regarding the actions of the defense plant NPK Uralvagonzavod JSC in the production and maintenance of military technology.” Lawyers did not provide any supporting supporting documentation.
Gershkovich, the second US journalist detained on spying costs since the Cold War, is currently being held in Moscow’s pre-trial confinement and has been the subject of so far unsuccessful prisoner-exchange negotiations between Moscow and Washington.
The Uralvagonzavod shop, which has been sanctioned by the West, is based in the area of Nizhny Tagil in Russia’s Sverdlovsk area and, according to the Soviet military department, plays a vital role in supplying tanks for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
