Russian officials detained an American journalist working for a U.S. government media company and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent.
Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia this year.
According to a Russian news agency, Kurmasheva is being held in a temporary detention center. Her employer is urging Russia to return her to the United States immediately.
"Alsu is a highly respected colleague, devoted wife, and dedicated mother to two children," Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin, president of RFE/RL, said in a statement on Wednesday. "She needs to be released so she can return to her family immediately."
Russian authorities in Kazan have detained Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with @RFERL's Tatar-Bashkir Service.
— RFE/RL Pressroom (@RFERLPress) October 18, 2023
Read now: https://t.co/eidb2g44GZ pic.twitter.com/kCXODsiKWj
Reports say the journalist traveled to Russia in May for a "family emergency." However, she never returned home.
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Kurmasheva was supposed to leave the country in June but was detained at the airport and had her Russian and U.S. passports confiscated by authorities.
Initially, she was fined for not registering her U.S. passport. The journalist reportedly expected to have them returned. However, a new charge was announced this week, where she now faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
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The Tatar-Inform agency posted a video that showed Kurmasheva being marched into an administrative building accompanied by four men, two of whom held her arms and wore balaclavas, which are ski mask-like and cover most of someone's face. Tatar-Inform said authorities accused Kurmasheva of collecting information about Russia's military activities "in order to transmit information to foreign sources," suggesting she received information about university teachers who were mobilized into the Russian army.
Earlier this year, Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia for allegedly "spying in the interest of the American government" and trying to obtain "classified information."
His arrest followed his contribution to a Wall Street Journal article highlighting the Wagner mercenary group's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.
ABC News points out that analysts suggest that Moscow could use incarcerated Americans as bargaining chips after U.S.-Russian tensions skyrocketed when Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
