Chris Lange, FISM News
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A Moscow court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from lawyers representing U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich to secure his release from pre-trial detention as the Kremlin investigates him for alleged espionage.
The hearing came just under three weeks after the Kremlin’s Federal Security Service arrested Gershkovich, 31, in Russia and accused him of spying on behalf of the U.S. government. The U.S. State Department has designated the Wall Street Journal correspondent as “wrongfully detained.” Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Gershkovich appeared calm as he stood inside a glass cage in the courtroom, per Reuters. When asked if he required an interpreter, he replied, “No.” U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was present in the courtroom.
Tracy said on Monday that she was able to visit Gershkovich in prison for the first time since his arrest. She said that she found Gershkovich to be “in good health” and that he “remains strong,” The Associated Press reported.
“This is the first time we’ve had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago. He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” Tracy said in a brief statement in Russian on the Telegram messaging app, per Newsmax.
Russia’s espionage investigations typically take around 18 months to complete, during which time inmates have little to no access to the outside world.
President Joe Biden said that he had spoken with Gershkovich’s parents last week and again condemned his detention.
“We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening, and we declared it so,” Biden told reporters last week Biden as he departed the White House for his tour of Ireland.
Gershkovich, 31, is a U.S. citizen employed as the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow bureau reporter. He was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on March 29 by Russia’s Federal Security Service and charged with attempting to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. Gershkovich is the first U.S. journalist to be arrested in Russia for alleged spying since the Cold War. He is being held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison, which dates back to the czarist era and is widely viewed as a symbol of Russian oppression. Gershkovich has denied any wrongdoing. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have likewise vigorously defended Gershkovich’s innocence and have demanded his release.
UKRAINE DECLINES IRAQ’S OFFER TO MEDIATE PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO CONFLICT
Ukraine’s top diplomat has rejected a peace proposal from Iraq to end the Russian invasion, now in its 14th month.
Following a rare trip to Baghdad Monday, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed that his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, outlined a proposal to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the warring nations. Kuleba said that he refused the offer outright since it did not include the complete withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula.
The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, located on northern coast of the Black Sea, which Russia annexed in 2014, as well as the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia annexed in September 2022.
Kuleba said that while Ukraine sees “Iraq as a country that is capable of building bridges … Russia is on the offensive … and this is the biggest hurdle on the way to peace.”
“We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact that it has to stop the war and withdraw,” Kuleba added.
Hussein said that Iraq “has experience in communication with countries that have tension between them” and “is ready to be in service of peace” in press conference Monday.
“The continuation of the war will be dangerous not only to the two countries but to the world,” he added.
UK: RUSSIA MAY BE DIVERTING TROOPS FROM DONBAS TO BAKHMUT
The U.K. said that Russia has been pulling some troops from the Donbas front line in Eastern Ukraine, possibly diverting them to embattled Bakhmut.
The British Defense Ministry said in its daily battlefield assessment Tuesday that, while “heavy fighting has continued along the Donbas front line,” Moscow’s troop numbers and “offensive action around Donetsk” have decreased in recent days, “most likely to divert resources towards the Bakhmut sector.”
“For both sides, the exact sequencing of any major drawdown of their units around Bakhmut has become a critical question, with Ukraine wanting to free up an offensive force while Russia likely aspires to regenerate an operational reserve,” the Ministry said.
Russian military and Wagner Group forces in Bakhmut continue making incremental advances, per the assessment. FISM reported on Monday that ongoing disputes between Russia’s military and the contracted Wagner mercenaries appear to have been at least temporarily resolved, evidenced by renewed cooperation in their efforts to seize Bakhmut.