Evan Gershkovich will be held behind closed doors, Russian state media has reported.
Russian officials have accused Gershkovich, who is a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter, of collecting secret information about the production and repair of military equipment a Russian tank factory on behalf of the CIA.
Gershkovich denies the allegations entirely.
His trial will open on 26 June at a court in Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested in last March.
He has been held in Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison since his arrest, over a year ago.
This charge of espionage could lead to over 20 years in prison.
Gershkovich is presently 32 years old.
Russian prosecutors said Gershkovich was caught „red-handed”, carrying „out the illegal actions using painstaking conspiratorial methods”.
In response, the Wall Street Journal has accused Moscow of „stockpiling Americans in Russian jails in order to be able to trade them at a later date”.
Indeed, Russia is holding a number of other US citizens – including several journalists and active duty military members – in prisons across the country. But Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be detained on spy charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War over three decades ago, points out the BBC.
In December, the US state department said it had made a „substantial” offer to Russia to secure Mr Gershkovich’s release, which was rebuffed by Russia.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin implied that Moscow is seeking the release of Vadim Krasikov, found guilty in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen commander in Berlin – in return.
