MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - Investigators have brought formal charges against Evan Gershkovich, a journalist of the World Street Journal Moscow bureau, who has been detained on espionage counts, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax.
"Gershkovich has been indicted" under Russian Criminal Code Article 276 (espionage), the source said.
As reported earlier with reference to the investigation, Gershkovich, "acting on an assignment from the American side, collected information constituting a state secret regarding the functioning of a Russian military industry enterprise."
The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported the detention of Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen born in 1991, on March 30. The same day, Moscow's Lefortovsky District Court granted a motion from investigators on taking him into custody at least until May 29.
The FSB said Gershkovich had been detained in Yekaterinburg "while attempting to obtain secret information." Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said later that the journalist was "caught red-handed."