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Blinken, Lavrov discuss Gershkovich’s case, work of diplomatic missions

The Secretary of State called for immediate release of the Wall Street Journal reporter

WASHINGTON, April 2. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for immediate release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on espionage charges, Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a press statement on Sunday after their telephone call.

"Secretary Blinken conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist. The Secretary called for his immediate release," he noted. "Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan."

"The Secretary and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed the importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work," Vedant added.

The Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier that Evan 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. The FSB investigators opened a criminal case against the US citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). On March 30, Moscow’s Lefortovo district court sanctioned Gershkovich’s arrest until May 29.

In light of this, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a statement expressing deep concern for the safety of Gershkovich. According to the WSJ, Gershkovich covers Russia from his post at the newspaper’s Moscow bureau.

On December 28, 2018, Paul Whelan, who holds US, UK, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow while on an alleged spy mission.

The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. On June 15, 2020, the Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in a high security colony. Whelan is serving his sentence in Correctional Colony No. 17 in Mordovia.

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