Who is Evan Gershkovich and why is he on trial in Russia?

American journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial in Russia for spying, facing up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich went on trial in Russia on June 26 on spying charges, which he denies. Here is a short guide to his case.

Mr. Gershkovich is a 32-year-old American who grew up in New Jersey, the son of Soviet parents who emigrated to the United States in 1979. He joined the Wall Street Journal in January 2022 and was among the small number of Western journalists to continue reporting from inside Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

The FSB security service arrested him on March 29, 2023, in a steakhouse in the city of Yekaterinburg, where he was on a reporting trip.

He was accused of spying, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years.

Prosecutors allege he was gathering information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about Uralvagonzavod, a Russian company that makes tanks for the war in Ukraine. Since his arrest, he has been held for nearly 16 months in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.

Mr. Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal vehemently protest his innocence. They say he was doing his job as a reporter accredited by Russia's Foreign Ministry to work there. The WSJ says the trial is a sham and a guilty verdict is a foregone conclusion.

The Kremlin says the case is a legal, not a political, matter but has alleged from the start — without presenting evidence — that Mr. Gershkovich was caught “red-handed”.