March 30, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

President Joe Biden's administration says the US is still investigating Russia's allegations against a detained Wall Street Journal reporter, but voiced skepticism Thursday over the Kremlin's claim he was spying in the country.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was responding to a question about whether the White House would call journalist Evan Gershkovich's plight a "hostage situation."

Earlier, a White House spokesperson deferred to the US State Department and said officials were still assessing whether the US considers the reporter's arrest a wrongful detention. The Biden administration has, however, condemned the arrest.

In response to a follow-up question, Jean-Pierre said the Kremlin detaining Americans and using them for leverage in negotiations is a familiar tactic.

She also urged US residents to stay out of the country.

"The State Department is going to continue to reiterate that: It is not safe at this time to be in Russia or to travel in Russia," the press secretary said.

The United States and 44 other countries in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) invoked a special mechanism Thursday to investigate alleged human rights violations by Russia during its war in Ukraine, “particularly with regard to the forced transfer and deportation of children by the Russian Federation.”

According to the US and several European governments, Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, often to a network of dozens of camps where the minors underwent political reeducation. 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month issued arrest warrants for Putin and another Russian official related to the reported forced deportation.

In a joint statement, the group of OSCE countries said the so-called Moscow Mechanism, which is a serious step taken to look into allegations of human rights abuses, was invoked “as we continue to have concerns regarding violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law following Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine."

The statement noted that recent reports from OSCE’s independent expert missions confirmed the group’s shared concerns about Russia’s “violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine, and, in particular, credible reports of forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian civilians, including unaccompanied children.” 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the move, saying in a tweet, “we need resolute joint actions to stop this genocidal practice, return children back to Ukraine, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.” 

The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the organization's findings can be given to other bodies that do. 

Both Russia and Ukraine are members of the 57-nation OSCE. 

The US Embassy in Moscow has requested official notification of the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, according to the State Department.

“Russia is required to provide that under our bilateral consular convention,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Patel also said the US has requested consular access to Gershkovich, but noted that “due to Russia's administrative procedures and security requirements, it will likely be several days before that happens.”

He said consular access is the "number one priority" for the State Department so that officials can access Gershkovich's well-being and gather information.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration is also "fighting for" consular access, adding the president was briefed on the case Thursday morning.

The administration has said there is a process that must be completed before they can officially call a situation a wrongful detention case.

Asked if the State Department would designate Gershkovich as wrongfully detained, Patel said “the Department regularly reviews the circumstances surrounding the detentions of US nationals overseas for indicators that these detentions are wrongful.”

Patel urged Americans not to travel to Russia and said that Americans residing in Russia should leave “immediately.”

CNN's Sam Fossum contributed reporting to this post.

US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel on Thursday said it was important “that we not make comparisons” between the cases of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.

Whelan, a former Marine who is a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was detained in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison in 2020 after a trial US officials called unfair.

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of "espionage," according to a Moscow court.

Patel said the US Embassy will speak with Whelan Thursday, and consular officers last visited him in person in late January. Embassy officials regularly speak by phone with Whelan.

“Our family is sorry to hear that another American family will have to experience the same trauma that we have had to endure for the past 1,553 days,” Paul’s brother David Whelan said in an email to the press earlier Thursday.

More than 7,000 Ukrainian troops have received training by United States forces since the beginning of Russia’s invasion last year, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Thursday. 

This week, 65 Ukrainians who were training on the Patriot air defense system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, returned to Europe after completing that training.

Ryder also said that more than 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers will have completed combined arms training in Germany at the end of this month, including two brigades — one equipped with Bradley Fighting Vehicles and the other with Stryker vehicles. 

“Additional combined arms training is currently underway at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels training areas in Germany, with two motorized infantry battalions consisting of 1,200 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel,” Ryder said.

Russia aims to send a delegation to North Korea as part of the Kremlin's ongoing effort to acquire more weapons from Pyongyang, according to a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council.

Alleged arms dealer Ashot Mkrtychev is at the center of this latest effort by Russia to circumvent unprecedented Western sanctions and export controls over its brutal invasion of Ukraine, Kirby said Thursday.

The US Treasury Department issued sanctions against Mkrtychev earlier Thursday morning, accusing him of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea.

"With this new pariah status also comes risks for those who provide support to him, as we will not hesitate to target such malign actors in the future," Kirby said, vowing to "continue to identify, expose and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from North Korea or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine."

Some background: The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported. And toward the end of 2022, North Korea supplied infantry rockets to the private military company Wagner Group for use in the war in Ukraine.

US officials have characterized the purchases as a sign that Moscow's military has dwindling stocks of the weapons it needs to sustain the invasion.

The Biden administration was not given any advance warning ahead of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich Thursday, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said

“We were just as surprised by this as all of you were, and it’s too soon to know or to be able to indicate that this is some sort of larger movement afoot here,” Kirby said, adding the administration is “single-mindedly focused” on getting consular access to Gershkovich so they can assess his condition on their own.

Kirby wouldn’t say if he believes if Gershkovich, who was credentialed to practice journalism in Russia, has been wrongfully detained, deferring to the State Department, which is tasked with officially determining if Americans are detained wrongfully abroad.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Thursday the department is in contact with the Wall Street Journal.

The US Treasury has sanctioned a man accused of trying to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea, as the Kremlin looks for new avenues to circumvent Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday's announcement, leveled against Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev, is particularly notable since it's rare for the Treasury to publicly acknowledge efforts to disrupt a deal that's still underway.

"We remain committed to degrading Russia’s military-industrial capabilities, as well as exposing and countering Russian attempts to evade sanctions and obtain military equipment from the DPRK or any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine."

The alleged scheme: Starting at the end of 2022, Mkrtychev has been working with North Korean officials to secure "over two dozen" types of weapons and munitions for Russia, according to the Treasury. In exchange, Russia would provide items like commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities.

Moscow had prepared its end of the deal and was ready to make the exchange, according to the Treasury, which cited the accused dealer's correspondence with the countries.

Dwindling supplies? The US says Russia started purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea last year, as CNN has earlier reported.

The purchases suggest Russia's military has suffered from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions, a US official said at the time.

The Treasury repeated that narrative with Thursday's announcement.

The US has accused North Korea of trying to conceal its weapons shipments to Russia, making it appear as if the ammunition is being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa, according to declassified US intelligence.

The Biden administration is “deeply concerned" over reports Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia on charges of espionage, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. 

“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms," she added.

The press secretary also noted the State Department's advise for Americans to not travel to Russia, and added that if they are currently residing or traveling there, then they should "depart immediately."