An American journalist from the “Wall Street Journal” was arrested in Russia for “espionage”. Evan Gershkovich denied the charges against him during a hearing in a Moscow court, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
The tension goes up a notch between the United States and Russia. An American journalist was arrested Thursday, March 30, in Russia, for espionage. The arrest of journalist Evan Gershkovich comes in a context of increased repression in Russia against the press since the offensive against Ukraine, which has greatly strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day on the war front.
US journalist arrested in Russia for ‘espionage’
Russia has remanded in custody an American journalist from wall street journal whom she accuses of espionage, an unprecedented case in the recent history of the country which arouses the “concern” the United States. The Russian security services (FSB) announced on Thursday that the reporter had been arrested in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, on suspicion of “espionage”, the Kremlin assuring that he had been taken into “in the act”.
Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old Russian-speaking reporter known for his thoroughness, denied the charges against him during a hearing in a Moscow court, according to Russian state news agency Tass. The American journalist has nevertheless been placed in pre-trial detention until May 29, a measure which may be extended pending a possible trial.
Ukraine now controls only a third of Bakhmout
Ukraine now controls only a third of the city of Bakhmout, the scene of violent and particularly deadly fighting for months in the East, said an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Serguiy Lechtchenko. However, he denied that the city is surrounded by Russian forces, as a pro-Russian official in the East recently claimed.
The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, said on March 20 that his men, on the front line in this battle, controlled “about 70%” of Bakhmout. This information had not previously been confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities. A city of some 70,000 inhabitants before the war, Bakhmout has become, because of the length of the battle and the heavy losses suffered by both sides, the symbol of the struggle between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the industrial region of Donbass .
Turkey approves Finland’s NATO membership
Turkey approved Thursday, after ten months of suspense, the adhesion of Finland to NATO, last country of the Alliance to give the green light after that of Hungary. At the end of a brief debate, during which they recognized Finland’s “legitimate security concerns”, the Turkish MPs unanimously voted by the 276 MPs present for the entry of this small Nordic country into the Atlantic Alliance, while Sweden still remains at the door.
A Russian separated from his daughter for a drawing on Ukraine arrested in Belarus
A Russian, separated from his daughter for a drawing against the offensive in Ukraine that she had made, and who had fled before being sentenced to two years in prison, was arrested in Belarus, the agencies reported on Thursday. Russian press. Alexei Moskaliov, 54, was “arrested by (Belarusian) police” near the capital Minsk “on demand” Russian authorities, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said, quoted by the agencies.