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No new request for consular visit to Gershkovich — diplomat

Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in late March and was charged with espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. Moscow has not received any recent requests from Washington for a consular visit to Evan Gershkovich, the journalist for The Wall Street Journal who was charged with spying in Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.

"I have mentioned the request to visit Gershkovich and at that time that request was granted. At present, we have nothing new," he said when asked whether the US request for a consular visit to the US citizen had been granted and whether there was another request.

Gershkovich was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in late March. He was charged with espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code.

According to the FSB Public Relations Center, Gershkovich, "acting at the behest of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise within Russia’s military-industrial complex." In late August Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court extended Gershkovich’s detention until November 30.