A US journalist working for the Wall Street Journal has been arrested in Russia after being accused of spying Evan Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg accused of trying to obtain classified information, Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.
Russia's security service, the FSB, said he was "acting on US instructions" and "collecting state secrets", while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had been caught "red-handed". Espionage in Russia carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years.
Mr Gershkovich covers Russia and is based at the paper's Moscow bureau. The Wall Street Journal said it was "deeply concerned" for its reporter's safety.