I hate to put it this way, honestly I do, but I don’t see much utility in resorting to euphemisms or otherwise dancing around the point: If you’re a US citizen (or, really, a citizen of any Western democracy) you shouldn’t be in Russia. Or in China. Not right now, and probably not for the foreseeable future either.
The Kremlin views the US as a wartime belligerent, as does China, although unless and until Xi Jinping crosses the Strait, the nature of the wars are different. US citizens, and those of Canada, the UK, France and so on, are good candidates for hostage-taking. And, as Brittney Griner recently learned, the Kremlin does take hostages. (So does the US, of course, but… well, suffice to say that in cases not involving terrorism, Western governments try to offer superficially plausible rationales for high-profile detentions — again, notwithstanding Guantanamo and various CIA “black sites.”)
It thus came as no surprise that the FSB seized a Wall Street Journal reporter on Thursday. Evan Gershkovich, a US citizen who was accredited to the Journal’s Moscow bureau, was engaged in “illegal activities,” according to the FSB which, for those unfamiliar, is the second generation successor entity of the KGB.
Needless to say, the Journal doesn’t agree with the FSB’s assessment. “The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations,” a statement said, adding that the paper “seeks the immediate release” of Gershkovich, who they called a “trusted and dedicated reporter.”
Gershkovich’s career in journalism appears to have started in 2016 as an assistant for the The New York Times. In late 2017, he moved on to The Moscow Times. Last year, that outlet’s Russian-language service was blocked for what the Kremlin claimed was a “false” report on riot police refusing to fight in Ukraine. Gershkovich also worked for the AFP.
The allegations against Gershkovich are serious and, naturally considering the source, totally nebulous. He’s “suspected of spying in the interests of the American government,” the FSB said.
More (or less) specifically, the Kremlin “established” that Gershkovich “collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” That information gathering expedition was allegedly carried out “on the instructions of the American side.”
Gershkovich, Russia says, was in Yekaterinburg “trying to obtain secret information.” He was arrested there. Incidentally, Yekaterinburg hosted the first official BRICS summit in 2009.
The Kremlin is calling this espionage. My guess is that it was investigative reporting of some kind. Of course, in Russia, there’s no distinction between those two things, which presumably means the “case” against Gershkovich is “strong.” (Note the scare quotes.)
Not that it needs to be. There’s no due process in Putin’s Russia, which means either the US intervenes and negotiates for his release, or Gershkovich is probably going to jail, and quite possibly for a while.
It goes without saying that this is highly unfortunate. The Journal said the paper “stand[s] in solidarity with Evan and his family.” That’s a nice sentiment, but it’s not going to help Gershkovich, who faces a formal criminal charge under Article 276. That’s the espionage code. Activities covered under it are described by Russia as follows:
Transfer, and also collection, theft, or keeping for the purpose of transfer to a foreign state, a foreign organization, or their representatives of information constituting a state secret, and also transfer or collection of other information under the order of a foreign intelligence service, to the detriment of the external security of the Russian Federation, if these deeds have been committed by a foreign national or a stateless person.
It’s going to be a long, long year for poor Evan.
Perhaps, the owner of WSJ might have a conversation with its other corporate entities about the frequent usage of Russian propaganda it leverages? Maybe having one of their own taken in custody will finally wake them up?
More and more over time, less an amicable relationship with differing opinions, more a threatened and threatening posture on the part of the Russians.
Gershkovich sounds like one of those passionate, young reporters trying to do some good in the world by learning and reporting the truth. Okay, he was in the Urals. Would like to know what he was doing there that was so threatening.
I have to imagine from the Russian perspective that they are desperate. They are about to lose substantially more ground in Ukraine. In the next six months, Ukraine’s infantry and massive accumulation of western-made armor and heavy equipment is going to roll over the Russian armies in the east and in Crimea like caramel over a hot plate. It is possible that Russia has taken Gershkovich because they have a sick need for the attention of the United States
Russia at this point lacks but sorely needs the attention of the United States because of its abilities to influence Ukraine. At this point, Russia is being pathetic. They’re actually taking WWII-era tanks out of storage and shipping them to Ukraine.
Ukraine, being fortified with extensive heavy weapons from the west, is simply going to annihilate the Russian armies on its land. What country in world would invite war with an angry, substantial, and enabled army of Ukrainians?
Russians in Ukraine have been dying at a rapid rate. It’s only going to get much worse. It’s going to be a blood bath. I’m just wondering when will the US choose to intervene and influence the end of the slaughter?
When the Russians leave.
When will we get it through our thick heads that people who run other countries are allowed to run those countries as they please. International law aside, we will never be safe while “seeking the truth” in someone else’s house. I watch sport shows and new shows every day where someone avers that s/he has the the right to seek and know the TRUTH about something or other and tell everyone about it. People are insatiable gossips. There are actually few, if any, laws protecting random, uncontrolled truth seeking. And none allowing it when we are checking the facts in other countries. They can volunteer, but can’t really be compelled to pass on true information. Truth is a luxury of civilized society that people in power will always guard because it is the main source of power. Information confers power because it unbalances the level of uncertainty between individuals. If you know something that others don’t, you have an advantage over them. Who wants to willingly give that up?