YEKATERINBURG, July 19. /TASS/. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich pleaded not guilty to espionage charges, Russia’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court said in a statement.

"The defendant pleaded not guilty," the statement reads.

Earlier, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court held two closed-door hearings on Geshkovich's case. Oral arguments were given on Friday, with the prosecutor requesting that the journalist be sentenced to 18 years in a high security penal colony. Gershkovich pleaded not guilty.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg in late March 2023. Criminal charges were filed against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), he acted at the behest of the United States, collecting information constituting a state secret about the activities of a Russian defense company.