The United States is “deeply disappointed” by Russia’s refusal of the US Embassy’s request to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in prison, State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on Friday.
Russia said on Thursday it rejected the request in response to Washington’s refusal to grant visas to a group of Russian journalists.
Gershkovich was arrested last month and charged with espionage, which he denies. The United States called him wrongfully detained.
Russia’s FSB security service arrested Gershkovich on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage, which carries a 20-year prison sentence for collecting state secrets about the military-industrial complex.
The Kremlin said Gershkovich, the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, had been caught “in the act”.
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