WSJ journalist Hershkovich was arrested with the personal sanction of Putin

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, personally approved the arrest of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Geshkovych, writes Bloomberg with reference to sources. This is the first arrest of a journalist on charges of espionage since the Cold War.

On the condition of anonymity, Bloomberg’s interlocutors familiar with the situation reported that the involvement of the country’s president in the criminal prosecution of an “inconvenient” foreign journalist indicates that the influence of supporters of a hard line aimed at deepening the conflict with Washington is growing in the Kremlin.

President of the Center for European Political Analysis Alina Polyakova told the agency that the arrest of Hershkovich is a challenge not only to the United States, but also to the entire West. “He signals that, according to Putin, a return to stable and reliable relations is no longer possible,” Polyakova said.

Bloomberg sources also claim that the initiative to arrest the American journalist on charges of espionage came from high-ranking officials of the Russian intelligence services. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that this was not Putin’s decision, but “the full prerogative of the special services, they were doing their job.”

Evan Hershkovich, a correspondent of one of the leading American publications, The Wall Street Journal, was detained on March 29 in Yekaterinburg. The court charged him with espionage and placed him under arrest for two months. The Russian investigation claims that Hershkovich collected secret information on one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex at the behest of the United States. The details of the accusation are not given. The Kremlin said that there was evidence against Hershkovich, but did not specify what exactly.

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 Ukraine.

The US State Department recognized journalist Evan 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 charges of espionage, Hershkovich may face up to 20 years in prison in Russia.