RT has obtained an exclusive video showing the moment Russian law enforcement detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as he attempted to hide what appeared to be a flash drive with illegally obtained classified data. The journalist was among those exchanged in last week’s historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West.
The previously unpublished clip released on Monday shows Gershkovich’s arrest in March 2023 in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg. The journalist is seen sitting in a restaurant with his ‘source,’ as the pair discuss in Russian how to hand over secret data on the country’s defense industry in a way that won’t allow the authorities to track the leak.
As Russian operatives swoop in, Gershkovich tries to hide what appears to be a flash drive containing the data under the table before being arrested. Commenting on the incident at the time, the Kremlin said the reporter had been “caught red-handed,” while Russia’s Investigative Committee claimed he had engaged in espionage on behalf of the CIA.
Gershkovich has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he was merely doing his job as a reporter.
While the administration of US President Joe Biden declared Gershkovich – the first American reporter arrested on espionage allegations since the Cold War – as “wrongfully detained,” a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison last month.
The journalist, however, was among 16 Western prisoners included in the landmark swap deal last week. In exchange, Russia secured the release of ten of its nationals. Intelligence operative Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced by a German court for allegedly killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen separatist with Georgian citizenship, in a Berlin park in 2019, was one of the most prominent Russian figures on the list.
Some of the evidence against Krasikov was provided by German magazine Der Spiegel, US government-funded website Bellingcat, and Russian opposition outlet The Insider.