State Department formally accuses Russia of wrongfully detaining jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich

The US State Department has issued a statement formally accusing Russia of wrongfully jailing a US reporter for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russian security forces and charged with espionage in late March; he is now awaiting trial. US media organisations have rallied in response to his imprisonment and demanded his release, calling the Russian government’s claims absurd. Mr Gershgovich had previously lived in the country for more than a half decade before his arrest.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the official determination on Monday, according to a statement from the agency which also condemned “the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth”.

In the same, brief statement the Biden administration urged the Russian government to release another American it says is wrongly detained, Paul Whelan.

“Journalism is not a crime,” said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, who added: “The U.S. government will provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a complete souring of US-Russian diplomatic ties and as a result a previous incident involving the detention of an American basketball player, Brittany Griner, for a small amount of marijuana ended up leading to a prisoner swap that saw a notorious Russian arms dealer freed from custody.

As of yet, there’s no sign of Russian officials planning to release Gershovich or make any public demands for concessions from the US.

Ms Griner, now back in the states, released a statement shortly after Gershovich’s arrest calling for him to be freed and expressing “great concern” for his wellbeing.