Russian prosecutors on Thursday accused jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of "gathering secret information" for the CIA, adding that he will face trial in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges.
Gershkovich was arrested by Russian law enforcement agents in March 2023 on suspicion of spying, accusations the reporter, his employer and the White House say are false.
Russia's Prosecutor General accused Gershkovich of working for the CIA and collecting "secret information" about tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod in the Sverdlovsk region where he was arrested last year.
Prosecutors added that the case had been sent to "Sverdlovsk Regional Court for consideration."
Moscow had previously not provided any public details of its case against Gershkovich, saying only that he was "caught red-handed."
He is the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be arrested by Moscow on spying charges. Russia has said there are discussions behind the scenes on a possible prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich.
President Vladimir Putin has publicly suggested that Moscow, as part of a deal to free Gershkovich, would like to see the release of a man Germany says was working for the Russian state when he killed a Chechen rebel commander in Berlin.
Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of arresting U.S. citizens in a bid to use them as pawns to secure the release of Russians jailed abroad for serious crimes.
