The Kremlin escalates its war on truth

ON MARCH 29TH Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the , disappeared during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-biggest city. The following day Russian security services came clean: they had arrested him on charges of espionage. That Mr Gershkovich, an American citizen, is accredited to report in Russia seems to have made little difference. The arrest is likely to exacerbate the already-terrible relations between Russia and America.Social-media accounts suggested that Mr Gershkovich was removed from the Bukowski Grill, a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, by plain-clothed men who led him out with a sweatshirt over his head. He has not been seen in public since. The said it was “deeply concerned” for its reporter’s safety.