Russia's FSB charges WSJ journalist with spying

The Russian Federal Security Service has officially charged the U.S.-detained journalist of the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, with espionage.

That's according to the Russian state news agency TASS, referring to a source in law enforcement, Ukrinform reports.

"The FSB investigation accused Gershkovich of spying for his country. He firmly denied all charges and said that he was engaged only in journalistic activity in Russia," the source said. He declined to comment further, as the journalist's case is labelled "top secret."

According to the Russian investigation, the journalist, "acting according to the instructions of the U.S. side, collected state secret information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."

As Ukrinform reported, Russian authorities detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich on March 29 during his journalistic trip to Yekaterinburg. He became the first U.S. journalist to be arrested by the Russian authorities since 1986. Gershkovich is one of several Americans the Russian authorities unlawfully detained in recent years.

The U.S. administration strongly rejected any accusations by the Russian authorities of the WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich in alleged involvement in espionage activities.