Moscow: A Russian court has sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a maximum-security prison after finding him guilty of espionage, local media reported Friday.

"The court has established and documented that the American Wall Street Journal journalist Gershkovich collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of the JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod defence enterprise on the orders of the CIA in March 2023," TASS news agency reported, citing the Prosecutor General's Office.

Two closed sessions were held earlier in the Sverdlovsk regional court, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prosecutor initially asked the court to sentence Gershkovich to 18 years in prison. The US reporter has denied the charges.

(IANS)