As WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich’s trial approaches, here is a look at the Americans detained in Russia

• At least 12 Americans are currently being held in Russian prisons, with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich being one of the best known.
• Gershkovich’s trial is scheduled to begin behind closed doors on June 26.
• Other high-profile detainees include former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Prague-based journalist Ars Kurmaseva and active-duty U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black.

Russia is holding at least 12 American citizens in prison, including journalists and active-duty military personnel.

Below are details about the most prominent Americans currently in custody, why Russia is detaining them, and what the U.S. is doing to extradite them.

Evan Gershkovich

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter with authorization from Russia to work in Russia, was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, on charges of espionage, which are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. According to the FSB security service, Gershkovich was collecting secret information about tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod.

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Gershkovich and his newspaper strongly deny the allegations, and the US government has determined it has wrongfully detained him and must find a way to free him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month that the United States was taking “active steps” to secure Gershkovich’s release but that ongoing talks needed to be held behind closed doors from the media.

Gershkovich, 32, has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since his arrest and has had his detention extended several times. His trial, which is being held behind closed doors, is scheduled to begin in Yekaterinburg on June 26.

Paul Whelan

Whelan, a former US Marine and US, British, Irish and Canadian citizen, was arrested in 2018 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges he denies.

At the time of his arrest, Whelan was head of international security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier. Russian investigators said he was a spy for military intelligence and was caught red-handed with a computer flash drive containing classified information.

Whelan, 54, was not involved in the U.S.-Russia prisoner swap for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in December 2022, despite speculation that she would be swapped, after Griner was traded for Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

The United States found that it had wrongfully detained Whelan.

Ars Kurmasheva

Kurmasheva, 47, a dual U.S. and Russian citizen, is a Prague-based reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a U.S. government-funded media outlet that has been designated a foreign agent by Russia.

She was arrested in October while visiting her elderly mother in the Russian city of Kazan. Authorities initially charged her with failing to register as a foreign agent, but later also with spreading “false information” about the Russian military, a charge that could carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Kurmasheva’s husband petitioned the United States to designate her as unjustly detained.

Gordon Black

Black, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army stationed in South Korea, was arrested in Vladivostok, Russia’s Far East, on May 2 after he was accused of stealing $113 from his Russian girlfriend and later grabbing her by the throat during an argument and threatening to kill her.

The Pentagon said Black violated military regulations by traveling to Russia via China without authorization.

In court on Monday, Black denied threatening to kill his girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, but pleaded “partially” guilty to theft, according to Russian state media. He is expected to make a more detailed statement at his next court hearing on Wednesday.

Robert Gilman

Gilman, a former U.S. Marine, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in October 2022 for assaulting a police officer on a train while intoxicated.

Gilman’s lawyer said he was in Russia to study abroad and told the court he did not remember the incident but “apologised to Russia and the police”.

Ksenia Karelina

Karelina, a dual U.S. and Russian citizen, was detained on treason charges while visiting family in Yekaterinburg in February and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The FSB security service accused the Los Angeles resident of raising funds for Ukrainian organizations whose ultimate beneficiaries were the Ukrainian military, and her family said she donated about $50 to a New York nonprofit that provides non-military aid to Ukraine.

Mark Fogel

Vogel, a former teacher who previously worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in August 2021 with 17 grams of marijuana in his luggage that he said he was using for medical purposes, and is serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling.

At the time of his arrest, Fogel, who was in his early 60s, was working at the now-closed Anglo-American School in Moscow.

Robert Romanoff Woodland

Woodland, who was adopted from Russia to the United States as a child, was detained in January on drug possession charges that could carry up to 20 years in prison.

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According to a Facebook account in his name, he worked as an English teacher and lived outside Moscow. A trial date has yet to be set.

Eugene Spector

Spector, who was born in Russia and then moved to the United States, is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence for bribery and was indicted on espionage charges last August.

According to state media, Spector served as chairman of the board of directors of Medpolymerprom Group, a company that specializes in cancer drugs, before his arrest in 2021. Spector had pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the bribery of a former aide to Russia’s deputy prime minister.