Source: wreg.com - Monday, December 31, 2018
WASHINGTON — Russia has detained a US citizen on suspicion of spying, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). American Paul Whelan was arrested December 28 in Moscow “while carrying out an act of espionage,” the FSB said in a statement. “The investigation department of the Federal Security Service of Russia initiated a criminal case against a US citizen under article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation is underway,” the statement continued. Article 276 is espionage. If found guilty, Whelan faces 10 to 20 years imprisonment, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported. The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, is Russia’s domestic intelligence agency. The US government has sanctioned the FSB over cyber activities, and earlier this year, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a firm controlled by the FSB for conducting cyberattacks against the United States. The FSB, however, does have some longstanding cooperation with US intelligence on issues such as counterterrorism. Earlier this year, a US official with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, along with the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, or SVR. But the Russian intelligence office that has earned the most headlines recently has been the military intelligence agency known as the GRU, or Main Intelligence
Source: Breaking News
WASHINGTON — Russia has detained a US citizen on suspicion of spying, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). American Paul Whelan was arrested December 28 in Moscow “while carrying out an act of espionage,” the FSB said in a statement. “The investigation department of the Federal Security Service of Russia initiated a criminal case against a US citizen under article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation is underway,” the statement continued. Article 276 is espionage. If found guilty, Whelan faces 10 to 20 years imprisonment, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported. The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, is Russia’s domestic intelligence agency. The US government has sanctioned the FSB over cyber activities, and earlier this year, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a firm controlled by the FSB for conducting cyberattacks against the United States. The FSB, however, does have some longstanding cooperation with US intelligence on issues such as counterterrorism. Earlier this year, a US official with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, along with the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, or SVR. But the Russian intelligence office that has earned the most headlines recently has been the military intelligence agency known as the GRU, or Main Intelligence
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Source: Breaking News
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