A reporter working for the Wall Street Journal has been arrested in Russia after he was accused of being a spy by the country’s security agency. Because we all know how trustworthy the folks are inside that particular Russian agency, don’t we? If there’s one thing we should have learned by now, it’s never trust the Russians. I mean, when’s the last time you watched a movie or television show where Russians are the good guys? Come on!
“On Thursday, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that Evan Gershkovich, an American and reporter for the WSJ’s Moscow bureau, had been arrested in Yekaterinburg. According to the FSB, Gershkovich had ‘collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex’ after ‘acting on the instructions of the American side,'” the Daily Wire reported.
“An espionage case has been opened against Gershkovich, who has been recognized as a journalist by the Russian government in the past. The WSJ denied any accusations of spying against Gershkovich,” the report continued.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the outlet went on to say in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”
The alleged “illegal activities” that were being conducted by Gershkovich had been “stopped” cold by the FSB, according to the agency. Maria Zakharov, a spokeswoman who works for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Gershkovich was involved in “activities that have nothing to do with journalism.”
The reporter’s arrest is the first time in decades that an American journalist has been taken into custody by Russian authorities. Gershkovich’s arrest took lace in the interior part of the country, specifically the Ural Mountains. He has worked for publications such as the New York Times and Agence France-Presse in the past. The latest story he was working on dealt with the impact Western sanctions were having on the Russian economy.
“According to Jeanne Cavelier of Reporters Without Borders, the arrest might be a form of retaliation as the U.S. has heavily backed Ukraine during its war with Russia,” the report stated.
“It looks like a retaliation measure of Russia against the United States, so we are very alarmed because it is probably a way to intimidate all Western journalists that are trying to investigate aspects of the war on the ground in Russia,” Cavelier said to The Associated Press. “The Western powers should immediately ask for clarifications on the charges, because as far as we know he was just doing his job as a journalist.”
And lest we all forget, Gershkovich isn’t the only American currently being held in Russia. They are also holding U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned there for almost four years now and is serving out a 16 year sentence in a penal colony for a crime he claims never happened.
“Russia was also holding American WNBA player Brittney Griner, who pleaded guilty to drug charges, before she was traded for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, also known as the ‘Merchant of Death,’ late last year,” the Daily Wire said in conclusion.
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