Russia's security agency detains US journalist on espionage charges

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it had arrested a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges, reported Xinhua.

The FSB said U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich, a reporter at the Wall Street Journal's Moscow bureau, is suspected of "spying in the interests of the American government."

It added that Gershkovich "gathered information classified as state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of Russia's military-industrial complex," acting on instructions from the U.S. government.

The FSB said the U.S. citizen was detained in Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain the secret information, adding that a criminal espionage case has been launched.