U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia with spying accusations. Arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29th, Gershkovich made his first public appearance since his arrest at a Moscow court. Gershkovich must stay in Russia until at least May 29th. 

 The journalist was arrested while working for the Wall Street Journal newspaper and was charged with espionage. The Russian court remarked that he had attempted to claim classified defense information for the U.S. government, while Gershkovich denies the accusation. President Joe Biden and both Republican and Democratic senators have disapproved of the journalist’s confinement. 

 “The charges against Evan are baseless and we call on the Russian Federation to immediately release him,” said Gershkovich’s lawyer Lynne Tracy. It has been stated that his arrest is the first time a U.S. journalist has been accused of espionage since the Soviet days. 

According to BBC News, the daughter of Andrei Sakharov, the first Soviet citizen to earn the Nobel Peace Prize, has defined the current treatment toward journalists as “primitive, unjustifiable, and appalling.” 

Will Evan Gershkovich be released from the confines of his charges? Will the outcome of the case be positive? The answer is currently pending.