The espionage trial of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in Russia, enters its final phase on Friday as the court begins hearing closing arguments.
Mr Gershkovich’s arrest is also being seen as a warning to foreign correspondents still working in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia had first capped Germany’s representation in the country at 350 staff, a move that Germany described as an “initial escalatory step.”
The FSB, however, admitted Mr Gershkovich had been accredited by its foreign ministry to work as a reporter in Yekaterinburg, Moscow,
