WSJ reporter's arrest marks a significant escalation of Moscow's campaign against Western media

Austrian MPs from the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) leave the assembly room as a sign of protest during a video address by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky amid a session of the Austrian National Council in Vienna, Austria, on March 30. (Christian Bruna/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Far-right Austrian lawmakers walked out of the country's lower house of parliament on Thursday during a virtual address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, protesting that it was an “infringement” of Austria’s neutrality status.

Members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) left their seats as Zelensky started his video address, leaving small place cards on their desks featuring the party logo and a message that read "space for peace,” according to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

In a video message on its Twitter account Thursday, the party said, “Yes to neutrality, no to warmongering.”

The FPO had warned days before that it would stage some form of protest against the Ukrainian president’s virtual address to Austria’s parliament.

"It is sad that the FPO is the only party in parliament that takes our ever-lasting neutrality seriously, thereby also standing up for peace," FPO leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement on Tuesday. He also blamed the Austrian government and other opposition parties of showing "unilateral support for a war party."

In his address, Zelensky thanked Austria for its humanitarian aid and help with projects, such as clearing land mines, adding that it is “important not to be morally neutral towards evil."

Austria is not part of NATO and does not supply weapons to Ukraine. It has, however, provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid and helmets and protection vests for civilian use. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer last week took to Twitter to emphasize his country’s neutrality status and said that while his country is militarily neutral, "we understand we have to help where injustice and war crimes take place."

The FPO has in the past maintained close ties to Russia. In 2016, it signed a cooperation agreement with United Russia, a conservative party holding a majority in the Russian parliament. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin was spotted in Austria as a guest at the wedding of Karin Kneissl, a member of the FPO and an Austrian foreign minister at the time.

Moscow will continue to give the United States advance notice about its missile tests despite suspending participation in the nuclear arms treaty called New START, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, clarified Thursday according to Russian state media TASS.

What happened: On Wednesday, Ryabkov had said that all types of notifications between Russia and the United States under the nuclear NEW START treaty were suspended. To this, the State Department had said Wednesday that the US had not received notice from Russia “indicating a change” in nuclear notifications.

However, Ryabkov clarified and told reporters that Moscow will in fact voluntarily continue to notify the US of missile launch.

He also stressed that Moscow has stated its position to Washington both orally and in writing. “There is no ambiguity here,” he said.

The US has been “concerned Russia's reckless behavior as it relates to the New START Treaty,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Wednesday.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler contributed to this reporting.

A van carrying Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich leaves the Lefortovsky court, in Moscow, Russia, on March 30. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on suspicion of "espionage," has been placed under arrest for nearly two months, until May 29, the court’s press service said Thursday.

Here's the statement from the court's press service:

The case of arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is marked "top secret" and he did not admit guilt, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing law enforcement agencies.

Gershkovich was formally arrested Thursday in a case of "espionage" in the Lefortovo court in Moscow. 

The court decided that the journalist — as a measure of restraint — should be detained in a pre-trial center, TASS reported. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted by officers from the Lefortovo court to a bus in Moscow, Russia, on March 30. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

The Russian state news agency TASS has reported that the Lefortovo court in Moscow has formally arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in relation to espionage allegations, according to law enforcement agencies.

TASS reported, “The Lefortovo court arrested journalist Evan Gershkovich in a case of espionage, law enforcement officials told us. He was chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of detention, the source of our agency said.”

The lawyer representing Gershkovich was not allowed to attend the Moscow hearing, according to TASS.

TASS reported that Daniil Berman was not allowed to participate in the hearing at the Lefortovo court, where a measure of detention is being chosen.

"They told me they already have an assigned lawyer," Berman said, according to TASS.

Another lawyer working on the case, Evgeny Smirnov, told CNN, “There is no (contact with Gershkovich) and there will be none in the coming weeks.”

A journalist with the Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the country's main security force.

State news agency TASS reported he was detained in Yekaterinburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains.

Here's what we know:

About Gershkovich: According to Gershkovich’s bio page on the Wall Street Journal’s website, he covers Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. He previously worked for news agency Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times and the New York Times. 

How the FSB described the arrest: "The illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, born in 1991, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry, suspected of espionage in the interests of the American government, have been suppressed," it said in a statement. Gershkovich was detained "while trying to obtain secret information" relating to "the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."

What the Russian government is saying: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the arrest was a "prerogative of the FSB." In a regular call with reporters, he added, "as far as we know, he was caught red-handed." Russian authorities often make baseless claims about the work of foreign journalists.

Russian Foreign Ministry's response: Its spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Gershkovich’s work in Yekaterinburg, Russia, had “nothing to do with journalism.”

Zakharova and the ministry routinely make baseless claims about the work and the motives of foreign journalists in Russia.

How the Wall Street Journal is responding: The newspaper has had a decades-long presence in Moscow. In a statement, the company said it “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family."

A first since the Cold War: Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when journalist Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge amid strained US-Soviet Union ties. Daniloff was arrested during the end of his assignment for working for US News and World Report, and he was imprisoned for weeks in isolated conditions while before the Reagan administration negotiated his release. 

Russia has been cracking down on independent journalists: Gershkovich's arrest comes amid a crackdown in Russia on independent journalists and foreign news outlets in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a censorship bill into law making it impossible for news organizations to accurately report the news in or from Russia. The law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, makes it a crime to disseminate what it deems “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has formally requested the arrest of US journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal, Russian state news agency TASS reported citing Moscow's Lefortovo district court.

Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, according to the FSB. He was detained in Yekaterinburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, TASS reported.

Britain's King Charles III, center, addresses the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament, in Berlin, Germany, on March 30. (Markus Schreiber/AP)

King Charles III spoke on the Ukraine war during his historic address to Germany's parliament on Thursday.

The British sovereign is in Germany on the inaugural state visit of his reign with the Queen Consort until Friday.

"Countless lives have been destroyed; freedom and human dignity have been trampled in the most brutal way. The security of Europe has been threatened, together with our democratic values," he said.

He added that Germany and the United Kingdom have together shown vital leadership in the face of Russian aggression, and praised Berlin for providing Kyiv with military equipment.

King Charles on Thursday became the first British monarch to address the Bundestag, the German parliament, paying tribute to the deep historical bonds and longstanding ties between the two nations.

Alternating between German and English, Charles said it was a “great honor” to be addressing the Bundestag on Thursday, adding he was proud to be in Berlin to “renew the special bond of friendship between our two countries.”

The Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be accused of spying by Russia since 1986, when journalist Nick Daniloff was detained on a similar charge. 

Back then Ronald Reagan was US president, Russia was part of the Soviet Union and ties were badly strained over the Cold War.

Daniloff was arrested during the end of his assignment for working for US News and World Report in 1986. He was imprisoned for weeks in isolated conditions while before the Reagan administration negotiated his release. 

Speaking at a press conference after his release in 1986, Daniloff called it a "very complex situation," stressing that without President Reagan's "very deep and personal interest" in his case he would have likely been imprisoned for much longer.  

"In my case, the FBI had arrested a Soviet in New York for espionage, and the Russians then arrested me," Daniloff told CNN. He added that negotiation eventually secured his release, involving a "solution for the guy who was arrested in New York." 

The Kremlin did not comment when asked if Gershkovich’s arrest was a tit-for-tat move following the arrest last week of Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov in the US, who is accused of being a Russian spy. 

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was asked by CNN during a daily briefing Thursday if Gershkovich's arrest could be a "retaliatory measure" after the US arrested a Russian on espionage charges last week. 

"I do not have such information. I have nothing to say on this topic," he replied.