Report: Putin Okayed Arrest Of WSJ Journalist

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest of a US reporter on espionage charges for the first time since the Cold War, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the situation.

The Russian president’s endorsement of the move reflects the growing influence of Kremlin hardliners who push for deepening a confrontation with Washington they view as irreversible, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.

Putin

The detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on March 29 triggered angry denunciations from the US and its allies, marking yet another low in US-Russian ties, which have spiraled since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

“This should be a real wake-up call, not just to the US, but the broader West,” said Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington. “It’s signaling that in Putin’s mindset that there’s no going back to a stable and reliable relationship.”

As the war drags into its second year, the Kremlin has increasingly sought to portray it as an existential struggle against a NATO bent on destroying Russia. Moves like the war-crimes warrant against Putin issued by the International Criminal Court last month have only deepened the leadership’s sense that there’s no room to back down in a conflict that it expects to last for years.