U.S. embassy in Russia says no evidence behind charges against Gershkovich

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who stands trial on spying charges, is seen inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW - The United States embassy in Russia said on Wednesday that Moscow had failed to provide any evidence to support espionage charges against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and that the case was about the Kremlin using U.S. citizens to achieve its political objectives.

In a statement on the first day of Gershkovich's closed trial on spying charges, the embassy said that since his arrest, "Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against him, failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan's work as a journalist constitutes a crime."