Russian security services announced on Thursday that they had arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich on espionage charges.
The FSB said in a statement carried by Russian agencies that it had "thwarted the illegal activity of the authorized correspondent (...) In the Moscow office of the Wall Street Journal American citizen Ivan Gershkovich," explaining that he is suspected of "spying" the journalist" for Washington.
The Russian news agency Sputnik quoted the security statement as saying that "the Investigation Service of the Russian Federal Security Service filed a criminal case against the American citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (espionage)."
Sputnik added that according to the Russian Federal Security Service, Gershkovich collected information that constituted a state secret "about the activities of one of the companies of the Russian military-industrial complex," on instructions from the United States.
For its part, AFP reported that Gershkovich, 31, previously worked as a correspondent in Moscow, explaining that he is of Russian origin and fluent in Russian, and his parents reside in the United States.