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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/31/russia-detains-american-in-moscow-suspected-of-spying
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Russia detains American in Moscow suspected of spying | Russia detains American in Moscow suspected of spying |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Russia’s FSB security service had detained a US citizen in Moscow accused of spying, it said on Monday, the latest in a series of espionage cases between Russia and the west. | |
The FSB domestic security service said the American was arrested on Friday “while carrying out an act of espionage”. | |
A criminal case had been opened, the FSB said in a statement, under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, which allows for sentences of up to 20 years in prison. | |
The statement identified the American in Russian, using a name that appeared to translate as Paul Whelan. | |
No other details were immediately available. | |
The arrest came with Moscow embroiled in a number of spy scandals with the west and after president Vladimir Putin accused western nations of using espionage cases to try undermine an increasingly powerful Russia. | |
US intelligence services have accused Moscow of interfering in the 2016 presidential election and earlier this month convicted Russian Maria Butina of acting as an illegal foreign agent. | |
Butina faces up to six months in prison, followed by likely deportation. | |
Prosecutors said she launched a plan in March 2015 to develop ties with the Republican party with the aim of influencing US foreign policy. | |
Russian military intelligence agents were also accused in the poisoning earlier this year of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England. | |
The Skripals survived but a local woman died after picking up a discarded perfume bottle that police think was used to carry out the attack. | |
Relations between Russia and the west have hit a new low following the incidents, with the United States and Europe hitting Moscow with waves of sanctions over the spy scandals and the conflict in Ukraine. | |
In his annual press conference this month, Putin said western pressure was aimed at restraining a resurgent Russia. | |
“There is only one aim: to hold back Russia’s development as a possible competitor,” he said. “This is connected with the growth of Russia’s power.” | |
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