Ekaterinburg court found American journalist guilty of espionage charges Evan Gershkovich and sentenced him to 16 years in prison, reported the world agencies quoted by BTA.
The 32-year-old reporter for the "Wall Street Journal" he will have to serve his sentence in a colony with a strict regime, reports Agence France Presse, for which the convict also worked.
The defendant, his relatives, in "Wall Street Journal" and the US government dismissed the Russian accusations as baseless.
Russian prosecutors alleged that Gershkovich had been gathering information for the CIA about a Russian company producing tanks used in Ukraine. This was the first case filed in Russia against an American journalist since the end of the Cold War, notes the Associated Press.
Reuters also pointed out that the case was concluded unusually quickly and behind closed doors in only the third hearing, while espionage cases usually take months. This is fueling speculation that the long-discussed prisoner swap agreement between Washington and Moscow could soon be finalized, the agency said, noting that Russia closes cases against foreigners before concluding swap agreements.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on this issue today.