American Reporter Accused Of Spying Goes To Trial In Russia: Is Prisoner Swap His Best Hope?

American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is accused by Russia of espionage, is beginning his criminal trial in Russia.

Gershkovich was arrested 15 months ago while on a reporting assignment for The Wall Street Journal.

A closed-door trial commenced on Wednesday in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, an industrial hub about 900 miles east of Moscow.

What’s At Stake: If Gershkovich is found guilty he could face up to 20 years in prison. Footage was released of Gershkovich with a shaved head in a glass cage, where the 32-year-old journalist appeared calm as he waved to fellow reporters reporting on the trial's launch.

Gershkovich is being charged with collecting secret information about the Uralvagonzavod military factory in the Yekaterinburg region while allegedly working for the CIA.

The U.S. government denies that Gershkovich has been employed by any government institution. 

"Evan is not a spy," said White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters Wednesday.

"Evan has never been employed by the United States government. Journalism is not a crime, and Evan should never have been tried in the first place," Kirby added.

The Wall Street Journal has said the charges of which its reporter is accused are not substantiated by evidence. The trial will be held in secret, as is custom in Russia for espionage cases.

"We think that it is a sham trial based on fake charges, therefore the proceedings will be farcical," said  WSJ publisher Almar Latour.

Secrecy has also allegedly prevented Russian authorities from releasing any proof of the espionage work of which Gershkovich is accused, although Russian officials have stated that they have "established and documented" that Gershkovich had "performed illegal actions in secret."

Gershkovich was caught "red-handed," as per Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

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Not much information is expected to emerge from the trial, where observers are not allowed to assist. Defense attorneys are also barred from sharing any information about the proceedings.

The U.S. embassy in Moscow released a statement backing Gershkovich's innocence.

 "We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong and never should have been arrested in the first place," said the embassy.

"Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against him, failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan's work as a journalist constitutes a crime.”

High Hopes For Prisoner Swap: There's little chance Gershkovich will be found innocent, as per the New York Times, since espionage charges rarely turn out this way when the Kremlin is involved.

Yet comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as from the U.S. State Department, have opened up the possibility of having Gershkovich return home in a prisoner exchange.

Earlier this year, Putin hinted at a possible exchange with Russian intelligence agent Vadim Krasikov, who was imprisoned in Germany in 2019 for the murder of a Chechen separatist dissident in Berlin.

"An agreement can be reached," said Putin in his solo interview with right-wing U.S. reporter Tucker Carlson in February, while adding in a separate interview with U.S. journalists that U.S. and Russian authorities have maintained contact on this issue.

The U.S. embassy in Russia highlighted this intention from Russian authorities, saying that Gershkovich's case "is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives," adding that Russia should stop using individuals like Evan Gershkovich "as bargaining chips." 

Yet Kremlin spokesman Peskov has said that while "this topic is very high-profile in the United States, it is not so high-profile inside our country."

"The investigation is underway, the trial is underway, and we must wait for the verdict to be delivered," said Peskov.

Prisoner swaps between Russia and the U.S. have been widely covered by the media in recent years, including a high-profile exchange of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer and Brittney Griner, an American basketball star imprisoned for cannabis possession.

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Moscow photo by Michael Parulava on Unsplash.