MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, until the end of March, meaning the journalist will spend at least a year behind bars in Russia.
US Consul General Stuart Wilson attended the hearing at the Lefortovo court, which took place behind closed doors as authorities say details of the criminal case against the US journalist are classified.
In a video shared by state news agency Ria Novosti, Gershkovich was shown listening to the ruling while standing in a court cage, wearing a hoodie and light blue jeans. A short time later he was pictured walking to a prison van to leave the court.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March during a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.
The Russian Federal Security Service claimed that the reporter, “acting on behalf of the US side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has said he was wrongfully detained. Russian authorities have not provided any evidence to support the espionage allegations.
At his year-end press conference in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is in dialogue with the United States about bringing home both Gershkovich and imprisoned American Paul Whelan, and that the Kremlin hopes “to find a solution” even if ” It is not easy.”
Putin was responding to a question about an offer the Biden administration had made to secure the release of the two men. The US State Department reported it in December, without providing details, saying Russia rejected it.
“We are in contact with our American partners about this, there is a dialogue on this issue. It’s not easy, I won’t go into details now. But in general it seems to me that we speak a language that each of us understands,” Putin said.
“I hope we will find a solution,” he continued. “But I repeat: the American side must hear us and make a decision that will also satisfy the Russian side.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will only consider a trade for Gershkovich after a ruling in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last more than a year.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be accused of espionage in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Gershkovich is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Analysts have said Moscow could use captured Americans as a bargaining chip after U.S.-Russian tensions soared when Russia sent troops to Ukraine. At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, have been exchanged for Russians imprisoned in the US.
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An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the court hearing as an appeal. It concerned a hearing on the extension of pre-trial detention.