White House Warns Americans Not to Travel to Russia After Arrest of WSJ Reporter

The headquarters (Lubyanka) of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the former KGB in Moscow. MAXIM MARMUR/AFP/Getty Images

The Biden administration has condemned the detention of a Wall Street Journal reporter by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on March 30 that the targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable and that the United States strongly condemns the detention of reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Kirby went on to say that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation and has spoken with Gershkovich’s family and employer. He also told reporters that the U.S. embassy in Moscow is seeking consular access to the detainee.

The FSB, the main internal security and counterintelligence organization that succeeded the Soviet-era KGB, said on March 29 that it had detained the journalist stationed in Moscow, in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, around 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) east of Moscow.

Kirby also said the United States government continues to condemn the Russian government’s targeting and repression of journalists and American citizens:

“As we’ve said before, the targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is absolutely completely unacceptable ... Americans should please heed the U.S. government’s warning not to travel to Russia. U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart right away as the State Department continues to advise.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement to the media echoing much of Kirby’s statement, saying the White House is “deeply concerned by the troubling reports” surrounding Gershkovich’s detention, adding that the State Department has been in contact with the Russian government on the issue.

“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms.”

State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a March 30 press briefing that the U.S. Embassy has requested notification of arrest. He said it will likely be several days before they receive access to the journalist to offer consular services, but they will not speculate about or preview actions their department might take.

The spokesperson declined to speculate about whether they believe the journalist will be used in a prisoner swap but said the department is working “around the clock,” to try to gain access to and offer consular services to Gershkovich.

Russia’s security service announced the journalist’s apprehension, saying in a statement translated by state-run TASS that it had “thwarted the illegal activities of Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen born in 1991, a correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, who is suspected of spying in the interests of the American government.

“It was established that Evan Gershkovich, acting at the request of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,” the statement continued. “The foreigner was detained in Yekaterinburg while attempting to obtain classified information.”

Gershkovich, 31, is accredited to work as a journalist in Russia by the country’s foreign ministry, according to the FSB.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.