The espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich resumed behind closed doors on Thursday in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Despite the lack of publicly available evidence, a conviction is highly likely.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 during a reporting trip. Russian authorities allege he was gathering classified information for the CIA, a claim vehemently denied by Gershkovich, his employer, and the U.S. government.

He is the first known Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia and faces up to 20 years in prison. He is being held in a detention center.

Thursday’s hearing was closed to the press. The court has stated that media access to Gershkovich will only be granted when the verdict is announced. Closed trials are standard practice in Russia for cases of treason or espionage involving classified material.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted on Wednesday that Moscow possesses “irrefutable evidence” of Gershkovich’s involvement in espionage. The Kremlin has also claimed that Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” without providing any public proof.

Prosecutors allege that Gershkovich gathered secret information on orders from the U.S. government about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 90 miles north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

Gershkovich appeared at a hearing last month, confined to a glass cage with his head shaved. The court adjourned the trial until mid-August. However, Gershkovich’s lawyers requested an earlier date for the second hearing, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti and independent news site Mediazona, citing court officials.

“Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge. … The Russian regime’s smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime,” Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and chief editor Emma Tucker stated after the initial trial date was announced. 

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also refuted the charges, emphasizing that Gershkvoich was never employed by the United States government. 

“Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place,” Kirby stated in May.

Gershkovich, an American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is almost certain to be convicted. Russian courts have a conviction rate exceeding 99%, and prosecutors can appeal sentences they deem too lenient, including acquittals.

Russia has hinted at the possibility of a prisoner exchange for Gershkovich in the future, but such a swap cannot occur until a verdict is reached in his case. Putin has suggested he might be open to freeing Vadim Krasikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for the assassination of a Chechen rebel leader.

In 2022, Russia and the U.S. negotiated a swap that released Brittney Griner, who was serving a 9 1/2-year sentence for cannabis possession in Russia, in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, also known as “the Merchant of Death.”

The Biden administration would likely be cautious when negotiating a swap for Gershkovich, avoiding any impression of giving away too much after facing intense criticism over the trade of Bout for Griner.

The Biden administration was criticized for leaving behind Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran, in that deal. Whelan received a 16-year prison sentence in 2020 after being accused of espionage and spying for the U.S. government. Both Whelan and the U.S. have denied the charges. 

Lavrov told a U.N. news conference on Wednesday that confidential negotiations regarding a possible release of Gershkovich are still “ongoing.”

’ Landon Mion, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.