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US ambassador to Russia granted consular access to Gershkovich on Monday — embassy

Evan Gershkovich collected a secret information of Russia's military complex, leading to the FSB investigation

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Monday visited Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is accused of espionage, the embassy told TASS.

"Yes, we confirm that Ambassador Tracy was granted consular access to Mr. Gershkovich today," the embassy said responding to a related question.

According to the Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), 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." The reporter was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg at the end of March. FSB investigators opened a criminal case against the US citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage").

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the journalist had been "caught red-handed." On March 30, Moscow’s Lefortovo district court ordered that Gershkovich be held in custody until May 29. On May 23, the court extended his detention by three months.

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