Ukraine updates: Gershkovich espionage trial opens in Russia

Gershkovich was on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountain region when he was arrested

US journalist Evan Gershkovich has appeared in a Russian court for the start of his trial for espionage.

The hearing comes 15 months after his arrest on charges that he, his employer, and the White House reject.

Russian prosecutors accused Gershkovich of gathering information to pass to US intelligence about Russian tanks deployed in Ukraine.

In other Ukraine war-related news, the US and Russian defense chiefs spoke by telephone.

Here are the latest developments from Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, June 26.

US journalist Gershkovich appears before closed Russian court

Reporters briefly filmed US journalist Evan Gershkovich ahead of the start of his closed trial on spying charges in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

The 32-year-old, who could face up to 20 years in a penal colony if convicted, was seen standing with a shaved head in a glass box.

Prosecutors accuse the Wall Street Journal reporter of gathering secret information on a company that makes tanks for Russia's war in Ukraine.

"The judge has entered the hall. The process has started," court press secretary Irina Toshcheva later told reporters.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has accused Gershkovich of "gathering secret information" for the CIA about a plant that makes and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

Gershkovich, his newspaper and the US government all reject the allegations. They say he was merely doing his job as a reporter accredited by Russia's Foreign Ministry to work in the country.

Gershkovich is the US-born son of immigrants from the USSR, and the first Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.

He and other US citizens jailed in Russia have become embroiled in tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country is open to the possibility of a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich, and contacts between the two countries have taken place.

Gershkovich has been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison since his arrest in March 2023. He has appeared healthy during previous hearings that saw his appeals for release rejected.

The United States, meanwhile, accuses Russia of pursuing "hostage diplomacy."

Russian and US defense chiefs speak for first time

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russia's new defense minister, Andrei Belousov, have spoken in a rare communication between the two governments.

The telephone conversation came in the wake of a deadly attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula that Moscow has blamed on Washington.

The sides gave differing accounts of what was said, with the Pentagon saying the pair spoke about the importance of keeping lines of communication open.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Belousov had warned Austin of the dangers of continued US arms supplies to Ukraine.

"Belousov pointed to the danger of further escalating the situation through continued supplies of American weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces," said a Russian ministry statement.

It was the first conversation between the two men since Belousov replaced Sergei Shoigu in May.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that Austin had initiated the conversation, which was the first such call since March 2023.

Relations between the Kremlin and the White House are at their coolest in decades. Moscow last week said diplomatic contacts between President Joe Biden's administration and President Vladimir Putin's government were at "an absolute minimum."

rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)