An American reporter for the Wall Street Journal was arrested on espionage charges in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information, the Russian Federal Security Service said, marking the first time an American journalist has been arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. The newspaper said she "vehemently denies" the accusations.

 Edited by| Hugh Gey

World   section -  CJ journalist

Washington - March 31, 2023

     US President Joe Biden urged Russia to release The Wall Street Journal reporter, when asked about his letter to Russia regarding the arrest of Gershkovich,     he said, "let him go".

The Biden administration said on Thursday it was working to secure U.S. consular access to Gershkovitch. Asked whether he would expel Russian diplomats or journalists in the United States, Biden replied: "that's not the plan at the moment.”

White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre called the targeting of U.S. citizens in Russia "unacceptable" and said the administration condemns Gershkovich's arrest " in the strongest terms.”

More than 30 groups of press freedom organizations and news organizations, including the journal, The New York Times, the BBC, The Associated Press, The New Yorker, time, and the Washington Post, signed a letter on Friday to Anatoly I. Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States, expressing concern about a "significant escalation of your government's anti-press measures.

"Russia is sending a message that journalism within your borders is criminal and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law," they said.

Judy Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group that promotes press freedom and safety, said:" This is a major shift and will be viewed with concern by many news outlets that have kept journalists there.

As a result, some news organizations withdrew their journalists. Some of these journalists returned later when it became clear that the restrictions were mostly aimed at Russians.

At a press conference in Lusaka, Zambia, vice president Kamala Harris added that the administration is "very concerned" about the arrest of Gershkovich.

"We will not tolerate — and, indeed, condemn — the repression of journalists," Harris said during a week-long visit to Africa.

A spokeswoman said The New York Times does not have a resident correspondent in Russia now but has sent journalists, such as Hopkins, on periodic assignments. Hopkins wrote to a newspaper on Tuesday about a Russian man facing a prison sentence and his 13-year-old daughter being placed in an orphanage for speaking out against the war.

One of the journalists who left and returned, Steve Rosenberg, the BBC's Russia editor, tweeted that he was "shocked by what happened" to Gershkovitch. His Twitter account said nothing about his private situation, and the BBC declined to comment Friday.

CNN has rotated international correspondents such as Matthew Chance and Fred Pleitgen in and out of Russia over the past year, and Chance has been reporting from Moscow on Gershkovich's arrest. The network will not say more about its plans for employment in the country.

"We are concerned about the news coming from Russia and are closely monitoring the situation there," she said in a statement.

The Washington Post has three journalists writing about Russia — Robin Dixon, Mary Ilyushina, and Francesca Ebel — but they do not comment on their whereabouts, a spokeswoman said. Dixon wrote about the arrest of Gershkovich from Latvia. In a memo announcing Abel's appointment last fall, the newspaper said her Russian team was operating from outside the country.

The Associated Press story about the arrest of Gershkovich, as well as a separate profile of the journalist, did not carry any sub-lines or date lines. The Associated Press does not talk about the movements of its employees for security reasons, but "maintains a presence" in Russia, spokeswoman Lauren Easton said.

Bloomberg News pulled its reporters out of Russia last year, with editor-in-chief John Micklethwaite telling staff then that the new laws seemed "designed to turn any freelance reporter into a criminal by pure Association. A spokeswoman said on Friday: "Bloomberg journalists have not returned to the country.

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