A man is arrested in Belarus for making antiwar comments

Report of the Detention of a Russian Foreign Press Reporter on Political and Economic Matter in the 2022 Moscow–Witten Collider

Gershovich was working for a newspaper in Yekaterinburg when he was arrested by agents of the Federal Security Services of Russia and accused of doing illegal activities for the United States.

In a statement, the agency alleged that Gershkovich, “acting on an assignment from the American side, was gathering information classified as a state secret about the activity of one of the enterprises of Russia’s military-industrial complex.”

“Until today, there was a hope among foreign correspondents working in Russia that these crackdowns on independent reporting would not extend to them,” said Gulnoza Said, a coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, which monitors press freedoms abroad. “But with these very serious charges, it is clear that any foreign correspondent could be a victim.”

Gershkovich worked with The Moscow Times and Agence France-Presse before joining The Wall Street Journal.

“We’re not talking about suspicions,” Dmitri S. Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said, adding, “He was caught red-handed.” Mr. Peskov said he could not provide further details.

The Biden administration said it was “deeply concerned” by Mr. Gershkovich’s detention, and State Department officials had contacted Russian authorities to secure access to the reporter and check on his welfare.

Mr. Gershkovich was able to operate freely after receiving accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

There are photos and video that show Mr. Gershkovich with a jacket hood over his head. He pleaded not guilty to espionage charges, the Russian state news agency Tass reported.

The release of an American W.N.B.A. star, on a minor drug charge in February 2022, was the culmination of a monthslong negotiation between Moscow and Washington, and freed a Russian arms dealer from U.S. custody. Russia freed a Norwegian man in exchange for 2 Russian spies who were jailed inLithuania for espionage.

The release of the American woman after she was held on a drug charge in February 2022. set off a months- long negotiation between Moscow and Washington that resulted in the release of a Russian arms dealer.

The release of Paul Whelan, an American who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage charges, has been one of the reasons why American officials pushed for his release.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that it was too soon to discuss a swap for Mr. Gershkovich. “Certain exchanges that took place in the past took place for people who were already serving sentences,” Mr. Ryabkov told reporters, according to the Russian news agency Interfax, adding, “Let’s see how this story will develop.”

The Russian security services likely saw an opportunity to gain from Mr. Gershkovich’s reporting on the Russian military, according to a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

She said that he will attract a lot of attention in the United States and that it will make the authorities react.

Mr. Peskov, the spokesman for Mr. Putin, said that the Kremlin was not planning to shut down The Journal’s Moscow bureau. He said those who carry out normal journalistic activity will continue to work if they have a valid accreditation.

The Journal recently named a new top editor, Emma Tucker. In 2014, as deputy editor of The Times of London, Ms. Tucker was closely involved in an episode involving two correspondents who had been kidnapped and detained in Syria. One of the journalists, Anthony Loyd, was shot twice in the leg, and the other, the photographer Jack Hill, was beaten up before the men were able to escape.

“As we have seen too often, the arrest of journalists reduces the public’s news coverage that is vital to all of us,” she said. She said The Times did not have reporters in Russia.