Detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is in "good health and remains in good spirits," despite his denied release appeal, according to a statement from U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, who met with Gershkovich on Tuesday in the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow.
Gershkovich and the newspaper have denied allegations of espionage against Russia and have based their appeal on the fact that Russia has not provided evidence to support the charges. The U.S. also has declared the journalist unjustly detained and has called for his release and return.
"We condemn the Kremlin's continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing attempts to corrupt the truth," Tracy said in her statement.
Gershkovich will remain in pretrial detention until March 30, despite being arrested nearly a year ago while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
The statement from the U.S. Embassy also called for the immediate release of Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who has been jailed in Russia since December 2018 on similar charges.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.