NEW YORK, April 12. /TASS/. The decision to arrest Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was made by Russia’s intelligence agencies and not by President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Bloomberg.

The media outlet claimed, citing "people familiar with the situation," that Putin had approved the US reporter’s arrest. However, Peskov said that it wasn’t Putin’s decision but was "the total prerogative of the special services." "They were doing their job," he added, as cited by Bloomberg.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Gershkovich, acting at the US’ behest, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of Russian defense companies. The reporter was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. The FSB Investigative Department opened a criminal case against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). As Peskov emphasized earlier, the journalist was caught red-handed. On March 30, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court ruled that Gershkovich be held in custody until May 29.