Russia Arrests Wall Street Journal Reporter for Espionage

The Russian flag waving in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, July 1, 2018. (AFP / Yuri Kadobnov)
The Russian flag waving in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, July 1, 2018. (AFP / Yuri Kadobnov)
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Russia Arrests Wall Street Journal Reporter for Espionage

The Russian flag waving in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, July 1, 2018. (AFP / Yuri Kadobnov)
The Russian flag waving in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, July 1, 2018. (AFP / Yuri Kadobnov)

Russia’s top security agency says a reporter for the Wall Street Journal has been arrested on espionage charges.

The Federal Security Service (FSB), the top domestic security and counterintelligence agency that is the top successor agency to the Soviet era KGB, said Thursday that Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information, The Associated Press said.

Gershkovich is the first reporter for an American news outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. His arrest comes amid the bitter tensions between Moscow and Washington over the fighting in Ukraine.

The security service alleged that Gershkovich “was acting on the US orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.”

The FSB didn’t say when the arrest took place. Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.

Gershkovich covers Russia and Ukraine as a correspondent in the Wall Street Journal's Moscow bureau. The FSB noted that he had accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist.

His last report from Moscow, published earlier this week, focused on the Russian economy's slowdown amid Western sanctions imposed when Russian troops entered Ukraine last year.



Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP

The US Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government's latest escalation against the educational institution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling more than $2.7 million to Harvard, Reuters said.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the "illegal and violent activities" of Harvard's foreign student visa holders by April 30.
"And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," Noem said in a statement.
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem's letter "regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas."
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights" while saying it will comply with the law.
President Donald Trump's administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with support for extremism and antisemitism.
The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.
"With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos - DHS won't," Noem said, adding an "anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology" existed at Harvard.
Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.
TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN
The Trump administration said late last month it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants to Harvard and later called for restrictions - including a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs - to be put in place for the university to continue receiving federal money.
Harvard on Monday rejected numerous demands that it said would cede control to the government. The Trump administration subsequently said it was freezing $2.3 billion in funding.
Trump also threatened on Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. CNN reported on Wednesday the US Internal Revenue Service was making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard and that a final decision was expected soon.
Harvard said there was no legal basis to rescind its tax-exempt status, saying such an action will be unprecedented, will diminish its financial aid for students and will lead to abandonment of some critical medical research programs.
Human rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the government.
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled some funding for universities like Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern as well.
It has also threatened to withhold funding over culture war issues such as DEI programs and transgender policies.