The White House confirmed on Thursday that the U.S. State Department is in direct contact with the Russian government regarding reports of Moscow's detention of a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. The White House stated, "The Biden administration is communicating with the reporter's family and the newspaper," and the State Department continues to "advise American citizens residing in or traveling to Russia to leave immediately."
On the Russian side, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced on Thursday that the U.S. will be allowed consular access to the detained Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Geronovich, who was arrested earlier on charges of espionage. The newspaper denied the accusations against him and called for the immediate release of "the reliable and loyal reporter" Ivan Geronovich (31), who has worked as a journalist in Russia for six years. He is the most prominent American detained in Russia since the release of basketball star Brittney Griner in December after ten months in prison for drug possession charges.
The Russian Federal Security Service stated that Geronovich was arrested in the industrial city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural region "on suspicion of spying for the U.S. government" by collecting information about "one of the projects of the Russian military-industrial complex," which was not specified. The journalist was transferred to Moscow, where a court in a closed session decided to hold him in custody pending trial until May 29. Geronovich, who has worked for the Wall Street Journal for just over a year, told the court he is not guilty. The newspaper stated that the case, believed to be the first criminal espionage case against a foreign journalist in Russia since the Soviet era, is based on false allegations. Under Russian law, the penalty for espionage can reach up to 20 years in prison.
