Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage in a Russian court on Friday and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. according to The 32-year-old man's trial began on June 26 and was “concluded swiftly,” CNN reported.

The journalist was arrested in March 2023 in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of being a CIA spy, a charge the WSJ strongly denies. Russian authorities have yet to present any public evidence to support the allegations against him.

American journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial on trumped-up espionage charges brought by Russian regimehttps://t.co/ieLeIXqyKY

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 15, 2024

“Evan was wrongfully detained, separated from family and friends, banned from reporting and spent 478 days in prison for carrying out his duties as a journalist before being handed down this disgraceful false conviction,” WSJ Publisher Almar Latour and Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to do all we can to seek Evan's release and support his family.” (Related article: Russian court sentences US soldier to nearly four years in prison for theft and threatening to kill)

Some have reportedly suggested the speed of this incident is related to a possible prisoner swap between the US and the Kremlin – precedent for such a move was set after US basketball player Brittney Griner was traded to Russia for “merchant of death” Viktor Bout in 2022. Contacts regarding this potential deal appear to be ongoing.

The town where Gershkovich was arrested Closed Town In Mejigorie Rumored Where Putin's Armageddon Bunker is Hidden (And Where Large scale Underground military facility.