Evan Gershkovich, a journalist of the Moscow bureau of the American edition of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), has been charged with espionage by the Russian Investigative Committee, "Interfax" writes.
"Gershkovich has been indicted, he is suspected of committing the crime specified in Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Russia," the publication said.
The investigation accused Gershkovich of acting on the United States' instructions and collecting information on the Russian military-industrial complex.
On March 30, the Federal Security Service of Russia informed about the arrest of Gershkovich, a citizen of the USA. On the same day, the Lefortovo court of Moscow detained the journalist until May 29, per the request of the investigation.
United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed concern about the capture of the WSJ journalist in a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and called for Gershkovich's immediate release.
Blinken also called on American citizens to leave Russia immediately. In a similar move, Poland asked its citizens to leave Russia too.
The editorial board of The WSJ called for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador and all Russian journalists from the United States. Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico also demanded that Russia release American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
