Putin claims imprisoned WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was working as a SPY - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin insists the wrongfully jailed reporter is a spy
  • Claimed he was ‘caught red handed’ receiving classified information 
  • Putin said he was open to trading Gershkovich, as he has many times before

Vladimir Putin has claimed imprisoned American reporter Evan Gershkovich is a spy who was caught ‘red handed’ with classified information.

‘You know, you can give a different interpretations to what constitutes a spy. But there are certain things provided by law,’ he said.

‘If a person gets secret information and does that in conspiratorial manner, then this is qualified as espionage.

Gershkovich, 32, was detained on March 29 last year and accused of espionage, the first American journalist to be arrested for alleged spying since the Cold War.

The Russian president, in a controversial two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson, released on Thursday night, said he was open to a deal to send him home.

Putin has many times insisted the wrongly jailed writer would only be released as part of a trade, and gave no new information during the interview.

Gershkovich was reporting for the Wall Street Journal, with press credentials, when he was grabbed by the Federal Security Service in the city of Yekaterinburg.

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Evan Gershkovich was detained on March 29 last year and accused of espionage, the first American journalist to be arrested for alleged spying since the Cold War

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Russian president Vladimir Putin, in a controversial two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson released on Thursday night, restated that he was open to a deal to send him home

Putin insisted Gershkovich was a spy despite Carlson saying he was ‘obviously not a spy, he’s a kid… he’s not a super spy and everybody knows that.’

However, Putin disputed the point saying the reporter had documents.

‘And that is exactly what he was doing. He was receiving classified, confidential information, and he did it covertly.’

Putin left open the possibility that Gershkovich received the material ‘out of carelessness’, but that his actions definitely ‘qualified’ as espionage.

‘The fact has been proven as he was caught red-handed when he was receiving this information,’ he claimed.

‘If it had been some farfetched excuse, some fabrication, something not proven, it would have been a different story then.

‘But he was caught red handed when he was secretly getting confidential information. What is it then?’

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Gershkovich, 32, stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow on November 28, when his pre-trial detention was extended for two months

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Gershkovich leaving court, the last time he was seen, with no end in sight to his detention and no trial date set

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Gershkovich puts on a brave face as he smiles with guards, right, is escorted from the Lefortovsky court in Moscow

The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich’s family, and the White House repeatedly said he was not a spy and was detrained while doing his job as a reporter.

President Joe Biden promised to bring him home, and the State Department declared him to be wrongly detained by Russian authorities.

Gershkovich is imprisoned at the notorious Lefortovo prison, spending 90 percent of his day cut off from the world in a small cell.

On November 28, a Russian court extended his pre-trial detention for another two months, and it is unclear when he will face trial.

Carlson asked Putin to clarify if Gershkovich was accused of working for the US Government or NATO – or just received classified information as part of normal journalistic work.

Putin first said ‘I don’t know who he was working for,’ before claiming he was ‘working for the US special services, some other agencies.’

‘But I would like to reiterate that getting classified information in secret is called espionage,’ he said, grossly misusing the term.

‘He’s not just a journalist. I reiterate. He’s a journalist who is secretly getting confidential information.’

Putin refused to simply release Gershkovich when Carlson asked, saying Russia had ‘done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them.’

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Putin insisted Gershkovich was a spy despite Carlson saying he was ‘obviously not a spy, he’s a kid… he’s not a super spy and everybody knows that’

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Ella Milman, mother of Gershkovich, and lawyer Tatyana Nozhkina leave after a court hearing to consider an appeal against Gershkovich’s detention

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Gershkovich is imprisoned at the notorious Lefortovo prison, spending 90 per cent of his day cut off from the world in a small cell

However, he indicated the wrongfully jailed reporter could ‘in theory’ be swapped for an imprisoned Russian ‘if our partners take reciprocal steps.’

‘Special services are in contact with one another. They are talking about the matter in question. There is no taboo to settle this issue,’ he said.

‘We are willing to solve it but there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. I believe an agreement can be reached.’

‘I do not rule out that the person you refer to, Mr Gershkovich, may return to his motherland.’

Putin said it ‘does not make any sense’ to keep him in prison in Russia, but wanted the US to ‘contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing.’

‘The talks are underway and there have been many successful examples of these talks crowned with success,’ he said.

‘Probably this is going to be crowned with success as well. But we have to come to an agreement.’

Putin has repeatedly refused to release Gershkovich and another US citizen Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, who has been jailed in Russia since his 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges.

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Another US citizen Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan , has also been jailed in Russia since his 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges

putin claims imprisoned wsj reporter evan gershkovich was working as a spy - but hints at reaching deal to send journalist home

Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe, is also detained in Russia, charged with failing to register as a foreign agent

He insists they must be traded for something else, such as a Russian imprisoned in the US – as has been done twice in the past 18 months.

‘We’re not refusing to return them. We want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable and suit both parties,’ he said in December.

Pilot and convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko was released in April 2022 in exchange for Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who was accused of attacking Russian police officers in 2019.

WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was being held in Russia on drug smuggling charges, was exchanged in December 2022 for Russian warlord Viktor Bout, who was convicted of trying to kill US citizens on the behalf of Colombian paramilitaries FARC.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Labrov said in April 2023 that there were around 60 Russian citizens in US custody, 25 of them in federal prisons.

Putin rejected an offer from the US in December to exchange Gershkovich and Whelan, the State Department said.

‘This was a new proposal, in recent weeks. It was a significant proposal,’ spokesman Matthew Miller said.

‘And it was rejected by the Russians but it does not, it will not deter us from continuing to do everything we can to try and bring both of them home.’

Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe, is also detained in Russia, charged with failing to register as a foreign agent.

Russian authorities claimed she ‘deliberately conducted a targeted collection of military information about Russian activities via the internet to transmit information to foreign sources.’

Gershkovich was born in the US to Russian parents who fled the Soviet Union and arrived in New York in 1979.

He worked for the New York Times, Agence France Press, and Moscow Times, reporting almost entirely in Russia, and started at the WSJ in January 2022.

Gershkovich lived in Russia for six years and was covering the private military firm Wagner involvement in the war in Ukraine when he was arrested.

Read more

News Related

OTHER NEWS

Big market marred by poor upkeep

THOSE looking for fresh produce may find themselves spoilt for choice at the biggest wet market in Klang, but visitors to the place say the condition of the facilities and ... Read more »

Olive Grove: Phase 1 sold out, Phase 2 now open for sale

Olive Grove is the first-ever gated-and-guarded development in Bercham, Ipoh with 24-hour security. IPOH: YTL Land and Development Bhd announced that Phase 1 of Olive Grove is fully sold while ... Read more »

Cops arrest teen who pulled knife on elderly e-hailing driver

Screenshots of a video showing a teenager pointing a knife at an elderly e-hailing driver. PETALING JAYA: Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy for holding an elderly e-hailing driver at ... Read more »

Sprint Highway’s Semantan To KL Slip Road Fully Closed Until Dec 31

Sprint Highway’s Semantan To KL Slip Road Fully Closed Until Dec 31 If you’re a regular user of the Sprint expressway, you’ll need to do some planning for your trips ... Read more »

Genshin Impact Version 4.3 Leak Showcases Update to Domains

Genshin Impact Version 4.3 Leak Showcases Update to Domains New leaks reveals a quality-of-life update to Domains in Genshin Impact, making it easier for players to repeat and farm resources. ... Read more »

Urban Republic Warehouse Clearance: Get iPhone for as low as RM699 and many more

CG Computers will host the Urban Republic (UR) Warehouse Clearance from 30 November to 3 December at the Atria Shopping Gallery in Petaling Jaya. During the event, visitor can get ... Read more »

Malaysia has never experienced hyperinflation - Economy Ministry

Photo for illustrative purposes only – 123RF KUALA LUMPUR – Hyperinflation has never happened in Malaysia and the government hopes it will never happen, according to the Economy Ministry. It ... Read more »
Top List in the World