Jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court on Tuesday to appeal his detention on spying charges, part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on dissent amid the war in Ukraine. He and the U.S. government strenuously deny the allegations. Dozens of journalists crowded together to catch a glimpse of the Wall Street Journal reporter, who is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying allegations. Gershkovich looked calm as he stood inside a glass cage. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was in the room. Russia’s Federal Security Service detained the 31-year-old in Yekaterinburg in March and accused him of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. Gershkovich, his employer and the U. S. government all deny he was involved in spying and have demanded his release. Last week, the U.S. government declared that he was “wrongfully detained” — a designation that means his case receives special attention from the State Department. The Moscow City Court is considering a defense appeal of his detention on Tuesday. Also Read: Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charge Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Russian lawyers have said past investigations into espionage cases took a year to 18 months, during which time he could have little contact with the outside world. He has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times. The arrest comes at a moment of bitter tensions between the West and Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and as the Kremlin intensifies a crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists and civil society groups. The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era. Activists say it often means the very profession of journalism is criminalized, along with the activities of ordinary Russians who oppose the war. Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. On Monday, a Russian court convicted top opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. of treason for publicly denouncing the war and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The U.S. has pressed Moscow to grant consular access to Gershkovich. On Monday, Ambassador Tracy said she visited Gershkovich in prison for the first time since his detention. She said on Twitter that “he is in good health and remains strong,” reiterating a U.S. call for his immediate release. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Greshkovich’s parents last week and again condemned his detention. “We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening, and we declared it so,” he said. A top Russian diplomat said last week that Russia might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap with the U.S. involving Gershkovich after his trial. That means any exchange is unlikely to happen any time soon. In December, American basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout following her trial and conviction on drug possession charges. She had been sentenced to nine years in prison and ended up spending 10 months behind bars. Another American, Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges, which his family and the U.S. government have called baseless.

Slovak authorities have broken a Russian spying network that was operating on Slovak territory, officials said on Tuesday. Stefan Hamran, the country’s chief police officer said four Slovak nationals have been detained in the case with two of them facing spying and bribery charges. Prosecutor Daniel Lipsic said the two face up to 13 years in prison if tried and convicted. “We’re talking about serious cases,” Lipsic said. “It’s about a long term, paid cooperation with the Russian military intelligence service" (known as GRU). The two are accused of seeking out and gathering highly sensitive, strategic and classified information about Slovakia, its armed forces and NATO and handed them over to undercover GRU officers who were based at the Russian Embassy in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, in exchange for money, Hamran said. He said such a case has not been known in Slovakia before. Lipsic said the suspects received tens of thousands euros (dollars) from the Russian spies. “The information the Russian intelligence service was looking for also involved Ukraine,” Lipsic said. He didn’t elaborate at a news conference in Bratislava. Officers from Slovakia’s National Criminal Agency and the country’s Military Intelligence service joined forces to investigate the case. Tuesday’s move came a day Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry announced it was expelling three Russian diplomats following its assessment of information from the country’s intelligence services on possible spying and bribery. The ministry said the diplomats have 72 hours to leave the country. It said their activities violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. The ministry said it has also strongly urged the Russian Embassy to make sure the activities of its diplomats were in line with the convention, which both countries are obliged to do. One of the two charged men was pro-rector and the head of the Security and Defense Department at the Armed Forces Academy in the northern town of Liptovsky Mikulas. The officials identified him as Pavel B., and said he had secret contacts with four GRU officers dating to 2013. The other one, identified as Bohus G., was working for a leading pro-Russian conspiracy website known as Hlavne spravy. He cooperated with the Russians at least from April 2021 and was using his contacts with a former assistant of a lawmaker in the Slovak Parliament and a former member of the Slovak spy service known as SIS, officials said. The officials said the two confessed their guilt. The investigation is continuing.