A reporter for the Wall Street Journal was arrested on Thursday in Russia. Tensions with the West escalate as the war in Ukraine rages.
In a move unseen since the end of the Cold War, a journalist for an American news outlet was detained in Russia. Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested on Thursday in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains.
Gershkovich was accused of espionage activity against the Russian government. A statement from the Kremlin reads: “It was established that Evan Gershkovich, acting at the request of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
The Wall Street Journal denied such allegations, demanding an immediate release of Gershkovich. Evan’s latest article for the WSJ was about the economic impact on Russia of Western sanctions.
Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” and that no regular WSJ staff operating in Russia is under danger. According to Russian authorities, Gershkovich was trying to obtain top-secret information about Russia’s military capabilities.
His activities have been deemed as “non-journalistic related” and he has been detained under article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code.
A similar development is unprecedented since the Cold War ended in 1991. The detainment of Gershkovich shows a severe worsening of relations between Russia and the United States, and the war in Ukraine keeps escalating.
The fight in Ukraine gets worse
On Thursday, the Ukrainian forces admitted to the Russian advance around the town of Bakhmut. Despite Kyiv’s best efforts, the overwhelming force of the Russian attack has almost completely surrounded the city.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian army seems willing to keep fighting until the last man. In fact, Russia’s conquest of Bakhmut was already considered inevitable a month ago. Nothing, however, has really changed since then.
Meanwhile, an increasing amount of Western equipment is being funneled into Ukraine. Among other important military supplies, a significant amount of battle tanks has also been sent to the invaded nation.
Ukraine is likely planning for a new offensive in the summer, possibly towards the south. Retaking Mariupol and severing the land connection between Russia and Crimea is likely Ukraine’s most important objective for the moment.
This would be Ukraine’s most significant victory so far, though it is also the most challenging to achieve. Ukraine itself is also ever more deprived of crucial resources, including manpower.
And then, while the conquest of the Crimean peninsula would put an end to the entire conflict, it’s an almost-impossible feat.
The war is far from over, and as foreign powers like the United States and China get involved, peace is nothing but a dream.
