The Foreign Ministry called the US reaction to the arrest of the journalist WSJ self-disclosure

The reaction of the United States to the arrest of the American journalist of The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich became a self-disclosure, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the air of the 60 Minutes program on the Rossiya 1 channel.

“This is … a self-exposing of the so-called ‘democratic society’, which manifests itself simply as a liberal dictatorship,” said diplomat (quoted by RIA Novosti).

Zakharova also drew attention to the fact that there is no investigation from the American side to understand what happened to the journalist. “They immediately turn to threats, reprisals against Russian journalists. If this logic continues in the public space, they will sow a storm,” said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

March 30 on suspicion of espionage in Yekaterinburg was detained Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal correspondent. The FSB clarified that the investigative department of the service opened a criminal case against Gershkovich under Art. 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (espionage). According to the intelligence service, the journalist collected secret information “about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” On the same day the Lefortovo Court of Moscow arrested Gershkovich until May 29, 2023

How declared Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov On March 30, Gershkovich was “caught red-handed.” On this score, Zakharova declaredthat the activities of the WSJ correspondent in Yekaterinburg had nothing to do with journalism. She stressed that this is not the first time that the status of a “foreign correspondent”, a journalistic visa and accreditation are used by foreigners in Russia to cover up activities that are not journalism.

March 31 US President Joe Biden urged release the WSJ journalist arrested in Russia. The American president also noted that he does not plan to expel Russian diplomats in connection with the arrest of Gershkovich.

In turn, the WSJ denied the accusations of the FSB and demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich. The newspaper clarified that the journalist works in the Moscow bureau of the WSJ and covers events in Russia. On March 31, the WSJ called for the expulsion of all Russian journalists working in the US, as well as the Russian ambassador to the US. On this Peskov declaredthat Washington has no reason to expel them.