London (CNN) Wall Street Journal journalist Ivan Gershkovich was arrested on suspicion of espionage in Russia, Russia’s security service said.
“The Central Security Service of the Russian Federation has stopped the illegal activities of Ivan Gershkovich, a US citizen born in 1991, a correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal,” Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, said. A statement on Thursday.
The security service said Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg, east of the Ural Mountains. It said he “attempted to obtain classified information” related to “the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex”.
The FSB said the reporter, authorized by the Russian Foreign Ministry, was “acting on the instructions of the US side” and “attempting to obtain classified information”.
Gershkovich covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union, in his opinion Autobiography On the Wall Street Journal’s website. He previously worked for news agencies France-Presse, The Moscow Times and The New York Times.
“The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned about Mr. Gershkovich’s safety,” the American newspaper said in a statement.
– This A developing story and will be updated.
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