"We took notice of another attack of hysteria in the U.S. media on allegedly unlawful detention of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is suspected of espionage, after Moscow City Court refused to change the preventive measure for him," the embassy said.
"Hiding behind the principles of freedom of speech, the American press is brazenly trying to interfere with the Russian justice as well as to question its independence. We stress the irresponsible behavior of The Wall Street Journal editorial board, who called for expulsion of all our journalists working in the United States," it said.
The embassy said US media should stop its ungrounded accusations.
"The biased media should slow down and take a sober look at the situation. The American citizen is accused of committing acts against security of the Russian Federation after being caught red-handed. Any attempts to portray Evan Gershkovich as an innocent victim and interpret his subversive activities as journalistic duty are outright manipulation," it said.
"By the way, the US media outlets are notorious for this practice which they use in the interests of Washington ruling circles. We urge the American media to stop unjustified accusations of crackdown against free press in Russia. Instead, they should assess objectively the state of freedom of speech at home," the embassy said.
On March 30, WSJ reporter Gershkovich was detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage for the United States. The journalist had collected classified information regarding the activities of one of the firms of Russia's defense industry sector, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow ruled that the reporter be put in pre-trial detention until May 29.