Evan Gershkovich began to be tried in Russia, Zelensky visited the front line in Donetsk (war, day 853)
Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist who had been detained for 14 months without any charges, began to be tried this Wednesday in a court in Yekaterinburg, a city located 1500 kilometers from Moscow, on suspicion of espionage. Until now, the Russian authorities had successively prolonged his preventive detention, without ever presenting concrete evidence for their allegations, wrote ‘The Kyiv Independent’.
Gershkovich, correspondent for ‘The Wall Street Journal’ in Russia, was formally accused of being a spy for the CIA on June 13, when it was announced that he would stand trial. The journalist appeared with his head shaved and smiling at the first court session, which took place behind closed doors, as should happen with the rest.
‘The Wall Street Journal’ described the court proceedings as “secret†as the courtroom is closed to friends, family, independent reporters or representatives of the US embassy in Russia. Evan Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on charges of espionage in Russia since the Cold War, CNN recalled. According to ‘The Kyiv Independent’, the journalist was arrested during a trip to Yekaterinburg in connection with work he was carrying out on the Wagner group’s recruitment methods and citizens’ opinion. Russians regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We are deeply disappointed that he has had to endure further attempts to discredit him and paint a picture of him that is unrecognizable to anyone who knows him. Evan is a journalist and journalism is not a crime,” the family said in a statement cited by CNN.
Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief of ‘The Wall Street Journal’, published, on Tuesday, a letter in which she described the trial as a “travesty of justice†. The court proceedings are expected to last months and will probably result in Gershkovich’s conviction, as acquittals are rare in Russia, explains ‘The Kyiv Independent’. If he is found guilty, the journalist could face up to 20 years in prison.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the front line in the Donetsk region, and took the opportunity to introduce the newly appointed Commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the Ukrainian troops , Andrii Hnatov, chosen by Zelensky to replace Yurii Sodol following unconfirmed reports that the lieutenant general had been the subject of an official complaint to the State Investigation Office for actions he led to significant losses among military units under his command.
In a video recorded in front of the entrance sign of Pokvrosk, a city about 70 kilometers northwest of the regional capital occupied by Russia, the head of the Ukrainian Government thanked the defenders and doctors of Donetsk and revealed that he participated in a “meeting Detailed information on security and support for the population. On the other hand, Zelensky reiterated the need for senior officials to travel to the field to learn about local problems, “which cannot be seen from Kiev†.
“I was surprised to learn that some important leaders have not been here for six months or more,†said the President of Ukraine in the video posted on social media, promising that he will hold “a conversation seriously” with the officers concerned and draw “appropriate conclusions in relation to them”.
The visit is being seen as an attempt to raise the morale of Ukrainian troops in what is, along with the Kharkiv region, one of the main active fronts of the conflict. Pokrovsk and its surroundings currently concentrate the majority of clashes, with more than 70 active battles, according to data provided by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, cited by the state agency Ukrinform.
Despite recent difficulties due to delays in the supply of weapons by Western allies, the “ammunition hunger†will have already been overcome, Reuters wrote. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian troops six times in the Kharkiv region, Ukrinform added.
OTHER NEWS THAT MARKED THE DAY:
â The US and Russian defense chiefs spoke on the phone for the first time since March 2023, in a rare conversation between the two powers, which came after Moscow held Washington responsible for a deadly attack in Ukraine at the end of week in occupied Crimea. This was the first conversation between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who took office in May, according to AFP. A source from that ministry said that the conversation took place “on the initiative of the American side†, with the Russian official warning of the “danger of a new escalation of the situation related to the current supply of American weapons to the Forces. Armed Forces of Ukraine†. The Pentagon also reported on the phone call in a statement, stating that Austin “underlined the importance of maintaining open lines of communication during the ongoing war†.
⇒ On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine carried out another exchange of prisoners of war, with each side releasing 90 soldiers, reported ‘The Guardian’. According to the British newspaper, this was the first prisoner exchange in almost four months and was mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
⇒ Russia announced that it is working on a new bilateral cooperation agreement with Iran, according to Andrei Rudenko, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, cited by state news agency RIA. The information was also provided by the spokeswoman for that ministry, Maria Zakharova, who described the new agreement as “a great treaty†, wrote Reuters.
