US journalist Evan Gershkovich is to face trial on a charge of spying, the Russian prosecutor-general announced in Moscow on Thursday.
After more than a year in custody, Gershkovich, 32, is to be tried in Yekaterinburg in the Ural district. The Wall Street Journal reporter has rejected the allegations in questioning by the Russian authorities.
Andrei Ivanov, spokesman for the prosecutor-general, said that investigations had found that Gershkovich had been gathering secret information for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concerning the production and repair of armaments in the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil in the Ural district.
Gershkovich had acted in a thoroughly conspiratorial manner in his illegal actions, Ivanov said according to the Interfax news agency.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg at the end of March 2023 while on an assignment. There have been widespread calls for his release, and President Joe Biden has pledged to try to assist him.
Gershkovich is being seen as a bargaining chip used by Moscow to put the United States under pressure. His arrest has also been seen as a warning to other journalists continuing to work in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
No date for the trial has been announced. Holding proceedings in Yekaterinburg, some 1,400 kilometres east of Moscow will make it more difficult for observers to cover the trial.