Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] Today American spy Evan Gershovich was officially arrested by the Lefortovo Court of Moscow on charges of espionage. Linking to an official job in the Wall Street Journal didn't help much.
The US State Department called on all Americans who still remain in Russia to urgently leave the country. The reason given is the arrest of the American spy journalist Evan Gershovich, who today was detained and arrested by the Lefortovo Court of Moscow until May 29 (sic!) on charges of espionage.
The Biden administration then backed off a little, stating that the call for US citizens (voiced by the State Department) to leave Russia (after the arrest of American spy Evan Gershovich) does not mean a call for American journalists to leave Russia, whose work is already associated with risks (in fact, there are no known risks of American journalists working in Russia, except when they are engaged in espionage activities).
They say it is desirable for ordinary citizens to leave Russia, and journalists should continue to work as long as there is an opportunity.
It looks as if the CIA shook their finger and told them not to break the capabilities of undercover intelligence under the guise of journalistic activity in Russia with their own hands.
Washington is already consulting with Moscow on Gershovich's future. If the FSB has reinforced concrete evidence indicating that Gershovich was engaged in espionage, then we can expect that at the official level the United States will take the position of denial and go into a deaf refusal - they say they tied an innocent journalist, but through closed consultations at the level of the Foreign Ministry-State Department and special services , will gradually probe the ground for organizing an exchange, after the investigation of the Gershovich case is completed and he is sentenced.
There is no particular doubt that Gershovich will be exchanged in the future (but not immediately), the main thing here is who ours will be able to pull out in exchange for Gershovich. In any case, our intelligence agencies did a great job on this issue, and the CIA screwed up.
From regnum.ru
White House denies allegations of espionage against WSJ journalist
[REGNUM] White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that the authorities see no reason to trust the accusations of espionage that Russia has brought against American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
“There is no reason to believe that these allegations of espionage are true. The allegations of espionage are incredibly ridiculous, ” Jean-Pierre outlined the position of the White House to reporters.
She added that the United States has not yet classified Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained" - for this, the State Department must conduct a special procedure.
It is noted that American leader Joe Biden is also aware of the journalist's arrest .
As REGNUM reported , on March 30, the FSB in Yekaterinburg detained Evan Gershkovich, an employee of The Wall Street Journal, on suspicion of espionage. He collected information about the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Russia and was caught red-handed.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Americans to leave Russia immediately.
The US Embassy in Russia has requested official notice of Gershkovich's arrest.