Russian court jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years after convicting him of espionage, state media says

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Friday found U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage and jailed him for 16 years, state news agency RIA said, in a case that his employer, the Wall Street Journal, has called a sham.

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American who denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations against him were false, went on trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Prosecutors alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a company that manufactures tanks for Russia's war in Ukraine. He is the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.

Espionage cases often take months to handle and the unusual speed at which his trial was held behind closed doors - Friday's hearing was only the third in the trial - has stoked speculation that a long-discussed U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange deal involving him and other Americans detained in Russia may be in the offing.

The Kremlin, when asked by Reuters on Friday about the possibility of such an exchange, declined to comment.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)