An American journalist detained in Russia while working for the Wall Street Journal has formally denied espionage charges levied against him by the Russian government.
Evan Gershkovich, 31, was arrested and detained in Russia on spying charges last week, and has now been formally charged. An espionage conviction carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Russia's Federal Security Service, the successor to the old KGB, claims it caught Mr Gershkovich collecting intelligence on the national's military infrastructure.
“He categorically denied all accusations and stated that he was engaged in journalistic activities in Russia,” Russian state-run news service TASS reported.
The Wall Street Journal, the White House, and bipartisan leaders in Congress have called on Russia to release the reporter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia's actions "unacceptable" and said he had discussed the situation with his counterpart in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Gershkovich would be considered "wrongfully detained," which allows the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs to take the reigns on his case.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both called for Gershkovich's immediate release. During a joint address on Friday, the senators condemned Russia's "long and disturbing history" of detaining American citizens under spurious allegations.
“Let there be no mistake: journalism is not a crime," the senators said in a joint statement. "We demand the baseless, fabricated charges against Mr Gershkovich be dropped and he be immediately released and reiterate our condemnation of the Russian government’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish independent journalists and civil society voices.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told US ambassador Lynne Tracy that pressure to release the journalist is “pointless,” claiming they caught him “red handed.”
“Hype around this case, which is being fanned in the United States, with the aim of pressuring Russian authorities and the court… is pointless and meaningless,” he said, per The New York Times. “He was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret information, using his journalistic status as a cover for illegal actions, qualifying as espionage.”
Mr Gershkovich is the son of Jewish immigrants who left the Soviet Union. He grew up speaking Russian an his home in Princeton, New Jersey.
He has previously worked for The New York Times, The Moscow Times, and the Agence France-Presse.
