Russia’s security agency said Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow last week during an «espionage operation.»<\/b>
\nMOSCOW \u2014 Russia\u2019s domestic security agency said Monday that it has arrested a U. S. citizen on espionage charges.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, the top KGB successor agency, said that Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow on Friday. The agency said in Monday\u2019s statement that he was caught \u201cduring an espionage operation,\u201d but didn\u2019t give any details.
Spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the U. S. Embassy was duly notified about the arrest, but wouldn\u2019t give any further information.
The U. S. Embassy in Moscow had no immediate comment.
The arrest comes as Russia-U. S. ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U. S. presidential election.
Alexander Mikhailov, a retired FSB officer, said the arrest reflected the effectiveness of Russian counterintelligence.
\u201cThe service wouldn\u2019t have made this information public unless it had solid evidence,\u201d he told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Send questions\/comments to the editors.
< Previous<\/p>\n