The court in Moscow left journalist Evan Hershkovich under arrest

The Moscow City Court rejected the appeal against the decision of the Lefortovsky District Court on the extension of the arrest period and kept the American journalist The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Evan Hershkovich in custody. This was reported by the press service of the Moscow courts.

On January 26, the 32-year-old journalist’s detention was extended until March 30. Hershkovich’s defense tried to appeal this decision.

Earlier, in an interview with the former host of the American Fox News channel, Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at the readiness to exchange Hershkovich for Vadym Krasikov (aka Vadym Sokolov), presumably an employee of the Russian special services, sentenced to life in Germany for the murder of the former field commander of the Chechen separatists, Zelimkhan Khangoshvila.

• Evan Hershkovich was detained on March 29, 2023 in Yekaterinburg. The next day, the FSB of Russia announced that the journalist had been arrested on charges of espionage. According to the intelligence service, the journalist, “acting at the behest of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
• Hershkovich and The Wall Street Journal deny the charges. The publication repeatedly demanded the immediate release of the journalist. The White House called the charges “ridiculous,” and President Biden characterized the journalist’s detention as “absolutely illegal.”