Russia detains US journalist on suspicion of spying

A US journalist working for The Wall Street Journal has been detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage, the FSB security service says.

Evan Gershkovich, an experienced Russia reporter, was working in Yekaterinburg at the time of his detention.

The Wall Street Journal said it “is deeply concerned” for his safety.

The FSB said it had “halted illegal activities” and that the reporter had been “acting on US instructions” and “collecting state secrets”.

Mr Gershkovich’s last piece this week reported on Russia’s declining economy and how the Kremlin was having to deal with “ballooning military expenditures” while maintaining social spending.

The FSB confirmed in its statement that he had foreign ministry accreditation while working in Yekaterinburg 1,800km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.

But it added he had been detained “acting on US instructions” and that he had “collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of a Russian defence enterprise”.

In the FSB’s view of espionage, “collecting information” could simply mean gathering comments from experts, she said, while acting on US instructions could simply refer to his editors at the Wall Street Journal.

However, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said what a Wall Street Journal employee was doing in Yekaterinburg had “nothing to do with journalism”.