Evan Gershkovich, the Russia reporter who became the story

FILE PHOTO: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who faces charges of espionage, stands inside an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/File Photo

(Reuters) - Evan Gershkovich landed what he told friends he regarded as a dream assignment in Moscow in 2022 - reporting for a famous newspaper on one of the world's top stories, at the age of just 31.

But the new job turned into a hellish ordeal when Gershkovich became the first American journalist since the Cold War to be arrested in Russia with investigators accusing him of collecting sensitive military information for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a charge he and his employer denied.