WSJ Correspondent Was Not Doing Journalistic Work In Yekaterinburg

Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent with the Wall Street Journal Moscow bureau who was detained in Yekaterinburg on a suspicion of espionage on Thursday, was not engaged in any journalistic work there, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"What an employee of the US paper The Wall Street Journal was doing in Yekaterinburg has nothing to do with journalism. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the status of a "foreign correspondent", a journalistic visa and accreditation are used by foreigners in our country to cover up activities that are not related to journalism. He is not the first well-known Westerner who got caught in action," Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.