U.S. ambassador to Russia visits jailed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich

MOSCOW (AP) — The U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in an online statement. Tracy’s visit comes a day after Gershkovich’s parents and sister appeared in the United Nation’s headquarters in New York and called on world leaders to urge Russia to free the reporter, who was arrested earlier this year in espionage charges he and his employer reject. Gershkovich, 31-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained in late March in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip. He has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo pre-trial detention center, notorious for its harsh conditions, ever since. Last month, a court in Moscow extended his detention till the end of November.