Russian secret service arrests American journalist for spying

The Russian secret service FSB has detained a correspondent for the United States (U.S.) newspaper Wall Street Journal for alleged espionage, according to state media.

The reporter, born in 1991, was suspected of “espionage in the interests of the U.S. government,’’ the FSB said on Thursday, according to the state agency TASS.

The FSB said that criminal proceedings have been initiated against him.

The reporter, who was detained in Yekaterinburg, is accused of collecting information considered secret on the military-industrial complex in Russia on behalf of the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal named the reporter Evan Gershkovich, describing him as a reporter and a U.S. citizen.

Arrests for suspected espionage are not uncommon in Russia, although this may be the first case of a journalist being detained.

The journalist was officially accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russia stepped up its crackdown on Western journalists in the wake of the Ukraine war.