The Russian authorities said on Thursday that they had detained an American journalist for The Wall Street Journal and accused him of espionage, marking a new escalation in Moscow’s tensions with the US and with foreign media organisations since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.

The journalist, Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent based in Moscow, is believed to be the first American reporter to be held as an accused spy in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. His detention comes as relations between Russia and the US continue to deteriorate, with Washington leading a coalition of nations supporting Ukraine’s military defence and pushing for Moscow’s further diplomatic and economic isolation.

The Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, said in a statement that Gershkovich “is suspected of spying in the interests of the American government” and had been detained in Yekaterinburg, a city about 900 miles east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains. The FSB is a successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.

“It was established that E. Gershkovich, acting on the instructions 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 FSB said. Hours after the FSB’s announcement, the Kremlin endorsed Gershkovich’s arrest.

“We’re not talking about suspicions,” Dmitri S. Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said in a daily conference call with journalists, adding, “He was caught red-handed,” Peskov said he could not provide further details.

In a statement, The Wall Street Journal strongly rejected Russia’s accusations and said that it was concerned for Gershkovich’s safety.

“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” it said. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

The US embassy in Moscow did not immediately comment on the arrest.

Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison under Russia’s criminal code. Espionage trials in the country can take months and are typically conducted in secret.

Acquittals are virtually unheard-of.

Photos and video appeared to show Gershkovich exiting a court building in Moscow on Thursday afternoon with a jacket hood over his head. He pleaded not guilty to espionage charges, the Russian state news agency Tass reported.

Gershkovich, 31, has worked for The Journal in Moscow since January 2022 and previously reported in Russia for AFP and for The Moscow Times.

Before that, he was a news assistant for The New York Times, based in New York.

New York Times News Service