The US ambassador to Russia received consular access to Hershkovich

The US ambassador to Russia, Lynn Tracy, received consular access and met with the arrested journalist of the American edition of The Wall Street Journal, Evan Hershkovich. The correspondent is accused of espionage, he is in the “Lefortovo” detention center.

Details of the meeting are not disclosed.

The Wall Street Journal, as well as Russian state agencies with reference to the US Embassy in Moscow, reported on obtaining consular access to an American journalist and a meeting with him today.

This is the second meeting of the ambassador with Hershkovich after his arrest. The first time Tracy visited a journalist in “Lefortovo” was on April 17, a day before the court rejected the lawyers’ request to place their client under house arrest.

Requests for further consular visits by the Russian side were rejected after the US Embassy in Moscow did not issue visas to Russian journalists who were planning to fly to New York to cover the work of the UN Security Council session.

• WSJ journalist Evan Hershkovich is the son of Soviet emigrants. He was detained on March 29 in Yekaterinburg, the next day a court in Moscow sent him to the “Lefortovo” pre-trial detention center. The FSB claims that Hershkovich was collecting secret information on one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex at the behest of the United States. The case is classified, the details are not disclosed.
• Hershkovich pleaded not guilty. The editors of The Wall Street Journal categorically rejected the accusations of espionage and stated that Hershkovich was doing his job. In particular, he asked residents of Yekaterinburg about their reaction to the losses incurred by PMC “Wagner” in the war with Ukraine.
• The US State Department recognized journalist Hershkovich as “unlawfully detained” by Russia. This status is equivalent to the status of a hostage and allows Washington to use additional mechanisms to achieve his release – in particular, to negotiate the exchange of an American citizen.
• On June 22, the Moscow City Court ruled that the extension of Hershkovich’s arrest was legal. He will remain in custody until August 30.
• The Wall Street Journal notes that Russian officials allow the possibility of Hershkovich’s exchange, but this is impossible until the verdict in the case is passed.