Russia says US threats over Wall Street Journal reporter’s arrest will ‘reap whirlwind’

Mr Evan Gershkovich is believed to be the first foreign journalist held for spying in post-Soviet Russia. PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW - Russia said on Friday that if the United States threatened Moscow over its arrest of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, it would reap a “whirlwind”, the state-owned news agency RIA reported.

Mr Gershkovich is believed to be the first foreign journalist held for spying in post-Soviet Russia, and his arrest is expected to escalate the Kremlin’s confrontation with the West amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

He was detained in Yekaterinburg, around 1,800km east of Moscow, and is being held in detention in the capital until May 29, pending trial.

Speaking on the 60 Minutes programme of Russia’s flagship Rossiya 1 channel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said the US had made no attempt to understand what had happened to Mr Gershkovich.

“They immediately turn to threats, reprisals against Russian journalists. If this logic continues in the public space, they will reap a whirlwind,” Ms Zakharova said.

Both Ms Zakharova and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Mr Gershkovich had been “caught red-handed”, but offered no evidence to back up their assertion.

US President Joe Biden urged Moscow on Friday to “let him go”, after his administration said on Thursday it was unacceptable for Russia to target US citizens and urged all Americans in Russia to leave at once.

The WSJ denied that Mr Gershkovich was a spy and, in an opinion column, the paper’s editorial board wrote: “Expelling Russia’s ambassador to the US, as well as all Russian journalists working here, would be the minimum to expect.

“The timing of the arrest looks like a calculated provocation to embarrass the US and intimidate the foreign press still working in Russia,” it added.

However, Mr Biden said expelling Russian diplomats was “not the plan right now”.

Mr Peskov, responding to the editorial board’s demand that all Russian journalists be expelled, said “the newspaper can say that, but it should not happen. There’s just no reason for this”.

Mr Gershkovich pleaded “not guilty” on Thursday as a court remanded him in pre-trial detention for two months.

The 31-year-old journalist’s detention, on charges that carry a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, is also a serious escalation of Moscow’s sweeping crackdown on the media.

The White House condemned the arrest and warned Americans not to travel to Russia, while also advising those now inside the country to leave for their own safety.

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“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr Gershkovich in the strongest terms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed concern about the harassment of journalists. REUTERS, AFP

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