YEKATERINBURG, June 17. /TASS/. The case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held on charges of espionage, will be heard by the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in closed session on June 26, the court’s press service said.

"The Sverdlovsky Regional Court received a criminal case against US citizen Evan Gershkovich. <…> The process will be held behind closed doors. The first court session is slated for June 26," the court said.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Gershkovich, "acting as an agent for the American side, collected top-secret data about the activity of an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex." In this connection, the journalist was detained in Yekaterinburg at the end of March 2023; criminal proceedings were initiated against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). If found guilty, he may face up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich pled not guilty to the charges.