The Russian FSB has arrested employees of a defence plant in Nizhny Tagil, accusing them of passing information of a "military nature" to Ukraine. Media outlets have revealed that WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich visited the city before the arrest and was later charged with espionage.

Source: Latvia-based Russian independent news outlet Meduza; Russian BBC service; news outlets Kholod and TagilCity

Details: On 4 April, the FSB reported the detention of a couple suspected of collaborating with Ukrainian secret services in Nizhny Tagil. A criminal case was opened under the article on high treason.

According to the BBC and Kholod, the detainees are Daniil Mukhametov and Viktoria Mukhametova, and they both worked at the Uralvagonzavod defence enterprise. 

The FSB has claimed that the suspects supposedly passed on information of a "military-technical nature" to Ukraine's secret service in exchange for money that could be used against the Russian army.

The FSB has reported that it has seized "items of espionage activity" at the couple’s place of residence. The suspects were sent to a pre-trial detention centre. 

The FSB has also posted a video showing their officers putting a person on the ground near a residential building, while a man in civilian clothes shows some kind of ID to the person.

The next shot is of the man sitting on a sofa with the woman. Their faces are hidden. The man behind the camera asks the woman if she has passed information to a foreign country and what exactly – "a drawing or some other document". The woman replies that it was a drawing. According to her, she received about 100 thousand roubles [approximately US$1,200 – ed.] for this. 

TagilCity, citing a source, has posted that the couple worked at the Uralvagonzavod, where they allegedly made copies of the documentation, which they handed over to "representatives of Ukraine". The news outlet has claimed that they were detained in late March.

The BBC has found a decision to arrest the couple only under an administrative article, not for espionage. They have claimed that the Mukhametovs used "foul language" at a bus stop in Yekaterinburg on the evening of 22 March in the presence of three witnesses, one of whom was an FSB officer. He then wrote a report, and the court sentenced the couple to 12 days' detention the next day.

On 29 March, the FSB announced the detention of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of espionage in Yekaterinburg.

Meduza's source among Western journalists in Moscow has reported that Gershkovich also travelled to Nizhny Tagil, where Uralvagonzavod is located. The BBC clarifies that Gershkovich was in Nizhny Tagil with a photographer. They flew from the Urals on 19 March.

Meduza has reported that the Mukhametovs have not been released, although their sentence was due to expire by the time the FSB announced their detention on 4 April.

Background: 

• On 29 March, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) detained Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, in Yekaterinburg, and a criminal case has been opened against him for espionage.
• The FSB believes that the journalist "was acting on instructions from the American side to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret". Dmitriy Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, claims that he was taken "at the scene of the crime".
• The newspaper denied the Russian accusation of espionage and demanded the release of the journalist.
• The Moscow court remanded a Wall Street Journal journalist in custody until 29 May.

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