Gershkovich appeared in a courtroom in Ekaterinburg yesterday, his head shaved, after being transferred from the Moscow jail where has been held since March 2023.
He is the first American journalist to be arrested in the country on espionage charges since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The proceedings have been closed to the public, as is common in espionage and spying cases, making it illegal for the press to publish any evidence or testimony that is heard in the case.
Vladimir Putin has indicated he wants to trade Gershkovich for Russians serving prison sentences abroad, including an alleged FSB assassin convicted of murder in Germany. The US and Russia have held talks about a prisoner swap but have not come to a deal yet.
Journalists were allowed in briefly to see Gershkovich, who smiled and nodded his head at colleagues as he stood in a glass box reserved for courtroom defendants. The courtroom was then cleared. The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison.
Gershkovich was accredited by the Russian foreign ministry to work in the country, and the Wall Street Journal has said he has been arrested for merely doing his job as a journalist.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Dewsbury-Hall delivers as Gent hit by goal rush
With every result, Enzo Maresca is making Chelsea believe again.
'My home record is bloody good so it's hard to match that'
Chris Woakes is ready for the challenge of leading England's Test attack in Pakistan and justifying Brendon McCullum's faith in his ability overseas
Brewer to reduce emissions by making beer using heat pump
An independent brewery in West Sussex is poised to become the first in Britain to make its beer using an ultra-high-temperature heat pump in place of an oil boiler.
Carmakers complain of pressure to hit EV targets despite record sales in September
UK electric car sales hit a record high in September, even as bosses from major carmakers told the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that government targets were putting too much pressure on the industry.
Bank of England monitoring crisis in the Middle East 'extremely closely'
The Bank of England is monitoring the Middle East crisis amid fears that a worsening conflict between Iran and Israel will make it impossible to stabilise oil prices and leave the global economy vulnerable to a 1970s-style energy shock.
'Speak the truth' Russia's opposition is rocked by claims over attack on Navalny ally
When Leonid Volkov, a longtime associate of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was brutally attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania in March, it initially seemed yet another case of the Kremlin hunting down its enemies abroad.
Deaths from Hurricane Helene pass 200 a week after storm
A week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the US, search-and-rescue teams are continuing to search for missing people in parts of the south-east that were devastated by the storm.
Book claims Trump axed hardline migrant policy after Melania intervened
Melania Trump describes in her new memoir how she made her husband, then president Donald Trump, drop a signature hardline immigration policy under which migrant children were separated from their parents, stoking domestic and international uproar.
Centrepoint says councils illegally turn away homeless young people
Hundreds of homeless young people, including dozens who are pregnant or have children, are being illegally turned away by councils when they ask for help.
White women eligible to donate stem cells on NHS for first time
Millions of women are now eligible to donate stem cells on the NHS for the first time amid rising demand for life-saving transplants and a drive to reduce reliance on expensive imports.
