Evan Gershkovich: Russia again extends detention of US journalist

Russia has once again extended the pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, 32, who was arrested last year on espionage charges.

The court ordered that his detention be extended until 30 March which means the Wall Street Journal reporter will spend over one year behind bars as he awaits trial.

Mr Gershkovich, his newspaper, and the US deny the espionage charges.

US officials have called for his immediate release.

"The grounds for Evan's detention are baseless," the American embassy in Moscow tweeted on Friday. "Journalism is not a crime. We continue to call for Evan's immediate release."

His arrest marked the first time Moscow had accused a US journalist of espionage since the Soviet era.

Mr Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, while reporting on the war in Ukraine on 29 March.

It is the fourth time his detention has been extended and as a result he will continue to be held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison. Mr Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

A video of the hearing, posted on the Moscow court system's Telegram channel, confirms the two-month pre-trial extension and shows Mr Gershkovich listening to the proceedings while wearing jeans and hoodie.

The closed hearing on Friday was attended by US consulate officials, including United States Consul General Stuart Wilson, according to then Associated Press.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US and Russia were discussing Mr Gershkovich's possible release, and were working to find a "mutually acceptable" outcome.

"It seems to me that on the whole we're speaking in a language which we both understand," he said.

Russian officials have previously suggested that they are open to a prisoner swap with the US, but only after a trial is concluded.

The US government has designated the reporter as being "wrongfully detained", a status which requires it to work to free him.

Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who is currently serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for spying, is also considered wrongfully detained. Last year, he told the BBC that he felt "abandoned" by his own country.

In October 2023, a journalist with both American and Russian citizenship was detained while visiting her family.

Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is accused of failing to register as a foreign agent and is facing a jail term of up to 15 years.