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☆ U.S. ambassador visits detained journalist Evan Gershkovich in Russian prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Abigail Williams | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy saw American journalist Evan Gershkovich on Monday, the second visit by Biden administration officials since the Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in March. U.S. consular officials, including Tracy, were last able to see Gershkovich on April 17, about two weeks after Russian government officials arrested him. A Moscow court ruled last month that Gershkovich must remain in prison until Aug. 30. "Ambassador Tracy reports that Mr. Gershkovich is in good health and remains strong, despite his circumstances," a State Department spokesperson said. "U.S. Embassy officials will continue to provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family, and we expect Russian authorities to provide continued consular access."

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Lynne Tracy, Tracy, Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Mr, Whelan Organizations: Court, Biden, Street, State Department, Embassy, Federal Security Service Locations: Moscow, American, U.S, Russia, Moscow's

☆ The U.S. ambassador to Russia meets with a Wall Street Journal reporter as his 100th day in detention looms.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Gabriela Sá Pessoa | Edward Wong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, met with the detained Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow on Monday, according to the State Department. It was the first time since April 17 that an American diplomatic official had been able to meet with Mr. Gershkovich, who has been held for more than 13 weeks on what American officials have said are bogus allegations of espionage. Ms. Tracy reported that Mr. Gershkovich was in “good health” and remained “strong, despite his circumstances.” Mr. Gershkovich, 31, has been held since late March at Lefortovo, a high-security jail known for difficult conditions for inmates, including extreme isolation. The Russian government’s allegations against Mr. Gershkovich have been vehemently rejected by the United States government and The Journal. The State Department reiterated on Monday that Mr. Gershkovich had been “wrongfully detained” — meaning that the U.S. government considers him to be the equivalent of a political hostage.

Persons: Lynne M, Tracy, Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich, Mr, ” Organizations: Wall Street, State Department, Mr, United Locations: Russia, Moscow, Lefortovo, Russian, United States

☆ Analysis: Where are Russia's top generals? Rumours swirl after mercenary mutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Valery Gerasimov, Russia's top general, has not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny on Saturday when mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded Gerasimov be handed over. Gerasimov, 67, is the commander of Russia's war in Ukraine, and the holder of one of Russia's three "nuclear briefcases," according to some Western military analysts. Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging application run by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, said a purge was underway. Surovikin, Gerasimov's deputy, was last seen on Saturday when he appeared in a video appealing to Prigozhin to halt his mutiny. He had been spoken of by Russian war correspondents as a potential future defence minister.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Kuravlev, Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Gerasimov, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Rybar, Wagner, Prigozhin, Michael Kofman, Viktor Zolotov, Shoigu, Alexei Venediktov, vilifying Shoigu, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Staff of Russian Armed Forces, Defence Ministry Board, Sputnik, REUTERS, LONDON, New York Times, Wednesday, Moscow Times, Reuters, Russian Armed Forces, Carnegie Endowment, Twitter, National Guard, Moscow, Tuesday, Western, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow's, Chechnya, Syria

☆ Where are Russian generals Gerasimov and Surovikin after Wagner rebellion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Absent from view too is General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon" by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict, who is deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Rybar, an influential channel on the Telegram messaging application run by a former Russian defence ministry press officer, said a purge was underway. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an annual meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia, December 21, 2022. Dara Massicot, an expert in the Russian military at the RAND Corporation think-tank, said that something looked odd about the video, in which Surovikin has an automatic weapon on his lap. "Surovikin (is) a brute but also one of the more capable Russian commanders," Freedman said on Twitter.

Persons: Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Valery Gerasimov, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Gerasimov, Sergei Surovikin, Surovikin, Dmitry Peskov, Wagner, Rybar, Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Mikhail Kuravlev, Prigozhin, Michael Kofman, Viktor Zolotov, Shoigu, Dara Massicot, He’s, he’s, Alexei Venediktov, vilifying Shoigu, Lawrence Freedman, Freedman, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Lisa Shumaker, Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: New York Times, Wednesday, Staff, Reuters, Moscow Times, Staff of Russian Armed Forces, Defence Ministry Board, Sputnik, REUTERS, Carnegie Endowment, Twitter, National Guard, Moscow, Tuesday, RAND Corporation, Western, King's College London, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Surovikin, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukrainian, Kremlin, Moscow's, Lefortovo, Chechnya, Syria

CNN —Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich lost his appeal against the extension of pre-trial detention in Moscow on Thursday on spying charges, which he denies. Gershkovich’s detention, at the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, was extended last month to August 30. Gershkovich was in court for the decision, in a glass cage, wearing a dark t-shirt and jeans. The Wall Street Journal called Gershkovich’s continued detention “an outrage” in a statement released Thursday. “Our colleague Evan Gershkovich appeared in Moscow City Court today for an appeal against his ongoing pretrial detention.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich, Lynne Tracy, Ella Milman, Mikhail Gershkovich, Tracy, ” Tracy, Evan, “, ”, ” “ Evan, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Wall Street, Moscow, Court, TASS, Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow City Court, US State Department Locations: Moscow, Russia, United States, Moscow City, Washington

☆ A Russian court upholds a Wall Street Journal reporter’s detention.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Moscow court denied an appeal on Thursday by Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who asked to end his pretrial detention in Russia, where he was jailed and charged with espionage 12 weeks ago. Mr. Gershkovich, an American journalist who has been based in Russia for nearly six years, was arrested in late March and charged with spying, which he denies. The American ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracey, was present, as were Mr. Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Millman and Mikhail Gershkovich. The United States government and The Journal have vehemently rejected the charges. The White House has said that Mr. Gershkovich is “wrongfully detained,” tantamount to being a political prisoner.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich, ’, Lynne Tracey, Gershkovich’s, Ella Millman, Mikhail Gershkovich Organizations: Street, United Locations: Moscow, Russia, American, Moscow’s, United States

☆ House Passes Resolution Calling on Russia to Free U.S. Prisoners
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersThe House has weighed in to condemn Mr. Whelan’s detention in the past, but Tuesday’s resolution was the first time that either chamber of Congress had officially called for Mr. Gershkovich’s release. Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest came just a few months after a high-profile prisoner swap in which Brittney Griner, an American W.N.B.A. American officials tried and failed to secure the release of Mr. Whelan in the deal. Mr. Whelan, who holds American, Canadian, Irish and British passports, has insisted he was visiting Russia as a tourist, and was set up. It is not clear which Russian prisoners the Kremlin would seek in exchange for either Mr. Gershkovich or Mr. Whelan, or both.

Persons: Biden, Gershkovich’s, “, Marc Fogel, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Mr, Antony J, Blinken, Roger D, Carstens, Biden’s, Gershkovich, Soviet, Brittney, Viktor Bout, Whelan, Griner’s, ”, — Organizations: American, Kremlin Locations: U.S, Russia, Russian, American, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, United States

☆ State treason trial of Russian physicist begins in St. Petersburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 1 (Reuters) - The criminal trial of a prominent Russian physicist accused of state treason opened in St Petersburg on Thursday amid tight secrecy and concerns over the health of the elderly defendant. The case, marked as "top secret", is closed to the media and public, the St Petersburg court has said. Maslov was a professor and researcher at the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, one of Russia's top scientific centres. Soon afterwards, Maslov was sent to Lefortovo prison in Moscow, a former KGB interrogation site, before being transferred to St. Petersburg to stand trial. Russia's parliament voted in April to increase the maximum penalty for treason to life imprisonment from 20 years.

Persons: Anatoly Maslov, Maslov, Lucy Papachristou, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kremlin, Reuters, Khristianovich, of Theoretical, Mechanics, Thomson Locations: Russian, St Petersburg, Siberian, Novosibirsk, Petersburg, Maslov, Moscow, St, hypersonics, China

☆ Factbox: Who are the three Russian scientists accused of state treason?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Lucy Papachristou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Three Russian scientists who have worked on hypersonic missile technology face "very serious accusations" of state treason, the Kremlin says. Maslov was detained early in the morning of June 28 last year in Novosibirsk, according to an interview that his sons Nikolai and Alexei gave to local media. He declined to tell them anything about the possible reasons for his arrest, and they learned from his lawyer that he was being charged with state treason. Kommersant newspaper reported that Maslov was accused of divulging state secrets related to hypersonics, but provided no further details. Born in Siberia, he studied in the aircraft engineering department at Novosibirsk State Technical University.

☆ U.S. Condemns Russia’s Arrest of Embassy Contractor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alan Cullison | Daniel Nasaw | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Robert Shonov worked for more than 25 years for the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok, Russia. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/Zuma PressThe U.S. condemned Moscow’s jailing of a Russian contractor for the American Embassy there, describing the arrest as a “blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.”Robert Shonov, 62 years old, was charged under a statute penalizing Russians who help a foreign state undermine Russia’s interests, Russian news agencies reported. The U.S. said the allegations were “wholly without merit.” He was arrested in March, and is now being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, whose cells are typically reserved for suspects in high-profile espionage cases, and faces eight years in prison, the agencies reported.

☆ A former U.S. Embassy employee is being held in Moscow, according to Russia’s state news agency.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Daniel Victor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Shonov, identified as a former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Russia, was arrested in the Russian city of Vladivostok and charged with conspiracy, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at a briefing on Monday that he had seen the report but that “I don’t have anything additional to offer at this time.”Tass, quoting an anonymous law enforcement official, said that Mr. Shonov was accused of “collaboration on a confidential basis with a foreign state or international or foreign organization.” He has been taken to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, Tass reported, and no court date has been set. Being held in isolation is commonplace at Lefortovo, a notorious high-security prison whose inmates currently include Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal correspondent who was accused of espionage in March, charges that his employer and American officials have strongly denied. Also being held at the prison is Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who is serving a 16-year sentence on what the United States has said are fabricated charges of espionage.

☆ Friends of American journalist Evan Gershkovich describe his life before he was arrested and put in one of Russia's most notorious prisons
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Lauren Frias | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

In March, Russia arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and accused him of espionage. He's being held in Lefortovo, a prison where former inmates said they felt isolated and abandoned. His friends describe the journalist's life in college and living in New York before he was detained. Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be detained on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. Former prisoners and those who visited the notorious Russian prison recalled harrowing experiences of isolation — a stark contrast to the life the US journalist was living in New York and Russia before his arrest.

☆ US envoy to Russia visits detained American Paul Whelan in prison- embassy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Thursday visited American citizen Paul Whelan in the prison he has been held in Mordovia in eastern Russia, the U.S. embassy said. "Paul has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than 4 years, and his release remains an absolute priority. The U.S. government will continue to engage Russian authorities on his case so Paul can come home as soon as possible," the embassy said in a tweet. Whelan, a former U.S. marine, was arrested in December 2018, held for 18 months in Lefortovo prison in Moscow and jailed for 16 years in June 2020 on spying charges. The United States has designated Whelan as "wrongfully detained", a term that effectively says the charges are bogus and the case is politically driven.

☆ Suspect in killing of Russian war blogger says she was set up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Most of all I want to die," the 26-year-old told the St Petersburg online news channel Rotonda, which posted extracts of its interview online. "The most unbearable thing is that they killed a man with my hands, and maimed dozens. Trepova did not say who had asked her to present the package - a bust of Tatarsky, with explosives concealed inside - to the blogger as he was meeting other supporters of the war. "I pray for the health of the victims and will try to organise a collection of funds to help the victims of the tragedy recover." Rotonda did not say when the interview had been given.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, denies the espionage charges. When asked by the judge if he needed translation, Gershkovich said in Russian that he understood everything. The Kremlin has said Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, was caught "red-handed". "He is reading a lot in prison - Russian literature in the original Russian," Nozhkina told Reuters, adding that he was reading Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece "War and Peace" about the French invasion of Russia in 1812. Asked about the prison food, Nozhkina said Gershkovich was being given porridge in the mornings and that the food was normal.

☆ U.S. envoy pays first visit to WSJ reporter Gershkovich in Moscow prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man walks out of the pre-trial detention centre Lefortovo, where U.S. journalist for the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich is being held on espionage charges, in Moscow, Russia April 6, 2023. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said on Monday she had made a first visit in jail to Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Moscow of spying, and had found him to be holding up well. Gershkovich, a respected journalist who was hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia. The United States last week designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained", in effect saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political.

☆ Imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter pokes fun at mom's cooking, saying it 'prepared' him for Russian prison food
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An imprisoned WSJ reporter joked that his mom's cooking "prepared" him for "jail food" in Russia. Evan Gershkovich sent a letter to his family in his first communication with them since his arrest. Gershkovich wrote that he was "not losing hope" during his detention at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. Gershkovich wrote in a letter to his family: "Mom, you unfortunately, for better or worse, prepared me well for jail food," he wrote in a letter, per the Wall Street Journal. A picture taken on July 24, 2021 shows journalist Evan Gershkovich, a US reporter for The Wall Street Journal newspaper who has been detained in Russia for espionage.

☆ Opinion: Top secrets come spilling out
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Writing for CNN Opinion, Rep. Justin Pearson noted, “This should be a chastening moment for revanchist forces in Tennessee’s legislature and across the country. Over the long haul, the undemocratic machinations employed to oust us from office are destined to fail. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once famously said that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. “As a Jewish historian,” Perry wrote, “I worry about the tension between preserving the memory of past hardships while not locking our entire history into a tale of oppression.

☆ Russia: Designation of WSJ reporter as wrongfully detained is irrelevant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - A senior Russian official said on Wednesday that the United States' designation of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained" meant nothing to Russia and would not change its approach to his case, the TASS news agency reported. His arrest brought an outcry from the Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Joe Biden, other media organisations and rights groups. We will act in accordance with our own internal needs, norms and laws that apply in this situation, and nothing more," TASS quoted Ryabkov as saying. Biden spoke to Gershkovich's family by telephone on Tuesday and said Washington was doing "everything in its power" to secure Gershkovich's release. He is the first American reporter jailed in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.

☆ Kremlin says detained U.S. reporter 'violated' Russian law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 11 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had "violated Russian law" and been caught "red-handed", after the U.S. State Department officially designated him as having been "wrongfully detained" by Russia. Russia's federal security service (FSB) arrested Gershkovich last month on espionage charges widely decried as bogus by the White House, other Western countries, the Wall Street Journal, dozens of media organisations and human rights groups. Asked about the U.S. move on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Russia's position that Gershkovich broke the law. He said Gershkovich had "been caught red-handed and violated the laws of the Russian Federation", before adding: "This is what he's suspected of, but of course, the court will make a decision". Russia has presented no evidence to support the case against Gershkovich, which is proceeding in secret because Russia says the case materials are confidential.

☆ Russia charges Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich with espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A man walks out of the pre-trial detention center Lefortovo, where U.S. journalist for the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich is being held on espionage charges, in Moscow, Russia, April 6, 2023. Russian Federal Security Service investigators have formally charged Evan Gershkovich with espionage but the Wall Street Journal reporter denied the charges and said he was working as a journalist, Russian news agencies reported on Friday. Gershkovich is the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War. The Journal has denied that Gershkovich was spying and demanded the immediate release of its "trusted and dedicated reporter". The United States has urged Russia to release Gershkovich and cast the Russian claims of espionage as ridiculous.

At Lefortovo prison, the interrogations start with the clanging of metal. Guards patrolling hundreds of cells at the sprawling facility on the outskirts of Moscow bang their keys together to signal that an inmate is being escorted from their cells to an interrogation room, according to former prisoners, their families and their lawyers. Others snap their fingers in the hallways, where fluorescent lights buzz day and night, a warning there should be no other prisoners in sight and as few personnel as possible.

☆ US journalist detained in Russia reportedly reading famous anti-Soviet novel by a Ukrainian Jew as he sits in notorious ex-KGB prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The WSJ reporter detained in Moscow is reportedly reading a famous anti-Soviet novel. The book, which equated crimes of the Nazis and the Soviets, was written by a Ukrainian Jew. "Life and Fate" was not published in the Soviet Union into 1988, when Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost allowed for greater freedom of expression. "This is a novel written by a Jew that concludes that the Soviet Union had come to resemble Nazi Germany," historian Walter Laqueur told the Washington Post in 1987, shortly before the novel was finally published in the Soviet Union. His parents were part of a large wave of Jews who fled the Soviet Union due to ongoing persecution.

☆ U.S. journalist jailed by Russia meets lawyers for first time, in good health - editor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Last Thursday a Moscow court remanded Gershkovich in pre-trial detention until May 29 on charges that carry a prison term of up to 20 years. He has appealed the detention through his lawyers, as Washington said it was pushing hard to secure his release. The legal avenue is one of several avenues we are working to advocate for Evan's release," said Tucker. The Wall Street Journal denies the charges. Reporting by Jake Cordell and David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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