Russia's FSB security service has accused a former employee of the US consulate in Russia's Far East of collecting information about the war in Ukraine and other issues for Washington, the Russian state news agency TASS reported, Reuters reports.
The suspect, Robert Shonov, passed information to employees of the US Embassy in Moscow about how a Russian recruitment campaign was influencing political discontent ahead of Russia's 2024 presidential election, according to an FSB statement, cited by TASS.
The FSB said it plans to question US embassy employees who were in contact with Shonov, a Russian national who was arrested in May.
The US Embassy said in May that "the charges against Mr. Shonov are completely unfounded" and that his "only role at the time of his arrest was to compile press briefings from publicly available Russian media sources."
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