Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court on Tuesday to appeal against his detention on spying allegations. Gershkovich, 31, stood inside a glass box in the Moscow courtroom with his arms folded but reportedly did not say anything. He was arrested late last month and accused by Russian authorities of attempting to obtain classified information while working on behalf of the American government, a charge that could see him imprisoned for up to 20 years. Last week, the U.S. formally declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” with President Joe Biden calling the arrest “totally illegal.” On Monday, Russia’s American Ambassador Lynne Tracy said she visited Gershkovich for the first time in prison and found that he “is in good health and remains strong.” Yaroslav Shirshikov, who spoke with Gershkovich before his arrest, was also detained on Tuesday, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reports, over an allegation of “justifying terrorism” in a post about the death of a pro-war Russian military blogger.
