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US sanctions Russia's FSB for taking Americans 'hostage'

April 27, 2023

The move comes after Russian authorities denied the US Embassy in Moscow a visit to imprisoned reporter Evan Gershkovich.

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The headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor agency to the KGB, and Lubyanka Square in front of it in central Moscow
The FSB has accused American journalist Evan Gershkovich of spyingImage: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's FSB intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Thursday. The US accused both of being responsible for taking "hostage" Americans overseas.

With the new sanctions, the US is "showing that one cannot engage in this sort of awful behavior of using human beings as pawns, as bargaining chips, without paying consequences," a senior US official told reporters.

The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia last month on charges of 'spying'.

Basketball superstar Brittney Griner urged 'wrongfully detained' Americans in Russia to "stay strong, keep fighting, don't give up" on Thursday in her first press conference since being released as part of a prisoner swap last year.

The US Treasury also sanctioned four top officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence body.

"Today's action targets senior officials and security services in Iran and Russia that are responsible for the hostage-taking or wrongful detention of US nationals abroad," said Brian Nelson, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands a behind glass wall during a Russian court hearing
Top US media outlets, such as The New York Times and Washington Post, have urged the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich Image: Evgenia Novozhenina/REUTERS

Multiple detentions on Russian and Iranian soil

Russia and Iran hold a number of American nationals in their prisons, on charges Washington considers politically motivated and wrongful.

Last month the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sparked an international outcry, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging for his immediate release.

Former US marine Paul Whelan has been serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia over accusations of espionage.

At least three US citizens are being held in Iranian prisons. In January, businessman Siamak Namazi, held in a Tehran prison for over seven years, went on hunger strike and appealed to US President Joe Biden for his release.

An anonymous US senior administration official said that the new sanctions are a series of efforts "to secure the release of U.S. Nationals wrongfully held overseas, to promote accountability for the culprits, and by doing so, to prevent and deter the next set of cases from arising in the first place."

vh/wd (AFP, Reuters)