The United States has urged its citizens to leave Russia quickly after Moscow’s arrest of an American reporter on charges of espionage.
“We again stress the warning about the danger to US citizens while in Russia. US citizens living in or traveling to Russia should leave immediately as the State Department continues to recommend.”, the White House statement on March 31 urged.
The warning came after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist working for the Wall Street Journal. It is the first time since the Cold War that Russia has detained an American reporter on espionage charges.
“It has been determined that E. Gershkovich, on a mission from the US side, collect information that is considered a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,” FSB said.
Moscow believes that the reporter’s job is just a cover for Gershkovich. If convicted, Evan Gershkovich could face 10-20 years in prison. However, the US side has denied the allegation.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “deeply concerned about Russia’s detention of an American reporter”. The White House confirmed that the State Department was in direct contact with Russian officials about the arrest, including an attempt to request consular access to Gershkovich.
The incident occurred in the context of escalating tensions between the US and Russia due to a series of issues, especially the war situation in Ukraine. On March 14, the US accused Russia’s Su-27 fighter jet of dangerously approaching and pouring oil directly on a US MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance drone operating in the Black Sea, causing the aircraft to crash. sea.
