An American journalist from the Wall Street Journal has been arrested in Russia for “espionage”. According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Evan Gershkovich denied the allegations against him during a hearing in a Moscow court.
Tensions between the United States and Russia are rising. An American journalist was arrested in Russia on Thursday, March 30, for espionage. The arrest of journalist Evan Gershkovich is linked to the increasing repression of the press in Russia since the offensive against Ukraine, which has severely strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
Franceinfo looks back at the highlights of the day on the war front.
US journalist arrested in Russia for “espionage”.
Russia has remanded an American journalist from the Wall Street Journal on charges of espionage, an unprecedented case in the country’s recent history that has raised “concern” in the United States. The Russian Security Service (FSB) announced Thursday that the reporter had been arrested in Yekaterinburg in the Urals on suspicion of “espionage,” which the Kremlin assured him was caught “flagrante delicto.”
Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old Russian-speaking reporter known for his thoroughness, denied the charges against him during a hearing in a Moscow court, according to Russian state news agency Tass. The American journalist was nevertheless held in custody until May 29, a measure that can be extended pending a possible trial.
Ukraine now controls just a third of Bakhmout
Ukraine now controls only a third of the city of Bakhmout, which has been the scene of violent and particularly deadly fighting in the east for months, said an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Serguiy Lechtchenko. However, he denied that the city was surrounded by Russian forces, as a pro-Russian official in the east recently claimed.
The head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigoyine, said on March 20 that his front-line men in that battle controlled “about 70%” of Bakhmout. This information had not previously been confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities. Bakhmout, a town of about 70,000 before the war, has become a symbol of the struggle between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the Donbass industrial region due to the length of the battle and heavy casualties on both sides.
Turkey agrees to Finland’s NATO membership
Turkey on Thursday approved Finland’s entry into NATO, the last country in the alliance to give the green light after Hungary, after ten months of tension. After a short debate acknowledging Finland’s “legitimate security concerns”, Turkish MPs voted unanimously with the 276 MPs present to allow this small Nordic country to join the Atlantic Alliance, with Sweden still at the door.
A Russian man who split from his daughter over a drawing about Ukraine has been arrested in Belarus
A Russian man separated from his daughter for raffling against the offensive in Ukraine and fleeing his sentence to two years in prison has been arrested in Belarus, Russian authorities reported on Thursday. Alexei Moskaliov, 54, was arrested “by the (Belarusian) police” near the capital Minsk “at the request” of the Russian authorities, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said, quoted by the authorities.