MOSCOW 

A court in Russia on Friday sentenced American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been charged with espionage in the country, to 16 years in prison.

The prosecutor asked the Sverdlovsk Region Court in Yekaterinburg to sentence him to 18 years in a high-security prison colony, but the judge opposed the highest possible sentence, according to the court's press service.

Gershkovich was detained in Russia in March 2023 on charges of espionage. The Federal Security Service accused him of gathering state secrets about the military-industrial complex.

Gershkovich and The Wall Street Journal deny the allegations, claiming that he was simply performing his duties as a journalist.