Journalist detained in Russia has been under Russian security services' surveillance

The WSJ reports that on Wednesday, March 29, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, journalist Evan Gershkovich was detained. It is noted that during one of his assignments, the author was followed by several Russian security officers, some of whom recorded his movements on camera and pressured sources not to talk to him. He assumed that his phone was tapped. During another trip to the western region of Pskov, he was also followed and filmed by unidentified men.

It is alleged that on Wednesday, when he arrived in Yekaterinburg, Gershkovich's phone was connected to a GPS tracker that allowed colleagues to see his movements. An acquaintance of the journalist drove by his apartment, but the windows were dark and no one answered the doorbell.

The next morning, Russian journalists managed to see Gershkovich being escorted down the stairwell with his head under his jacket and wearing baggy blue jeans, according to the publication. 

• The FSB detained The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, and he was arrested in a case of espionage. The American publication where he works called on the United States to expel the Russian ambassador.

• US President Joe Biden called for the release of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.