Russian court rejects appeal of Gershkovich detention

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain detained in Russia after his appeal over a Moscow court’s decision to extend his imprisonment was denied again Thursday.

The Lefortovo District Court in Moscow last month extended Gershkovich’s detention until the end of January and denied his appeal on the extension Thursday. He was detained in March on accusations of espionage while reporting in Yekaterinburg, a city that is about 1,200 miles east of Moscow.

The Journal and the United States have denied the spying allegations and maintain Gershkovich has been wrongfully detained.

“Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow City court today, where an appeal of the recent extension of his pre-trial detention was denied once again,” the newspaper said in a statement. “While we expected this outcome, it’s important that we appeal these rulings to call out the absurd nature of the charge.”

“Evan has been wrongfully detained for more than 250 days for simply doing his job as a journalist, and any portrayal to the contrary is fiction. We will stand with Evan and his family for as long as it takes and continue to demand his immediate release,” the statement continued.

This is not the first time the court has extended the journalist’s detention and later denied his appeal. The Moscow court previously extended his detention in August, pushing the date of his release to Nov. 30. He later lost his appeal in October to be released from the jail.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow has been in touch with the U.S. over releasing Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American citizen who has been detained since 2018 on espionage accusations.

“We have contacts on this matter with our American partners, there’s a dialogue on this issue. It’s not easy, I won’t go into details right now. But in general, it seems to me that we’re speaking a language each of us understands,” Putin said during his year-end press conference.”

“I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make a decision that will satisfy the Russian side as well,” he added.

The U.S. has agreed to prisoner swaps to bring detained Americans home from Russia in the past, including WNBA star Britney Griner late last year. The Russian Foreign Ministry has suggested it will consider a swap for Gershkovich, but only after a verdict is reached in his trial, which could last more than a year.

The Associated Press contributed.