Russia files espionage case against US citizen

Russia has opened a criminal case against a US citizen on suspicion of espionage, the country’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday.

The security service did not name the person or say whether they were taken into custody.

“The American is suspected of collecting intelligence information on biological topics directed against the security of the Russian Federation,” the security service said. He did not expand further on the charges against the man.

The State Department did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment.

It comes weeks after WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner was released from Russian custody after the Biden administration negotiated her release in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner was among the US citizens detained in Russia in recent years. She returned to the US in December, almost 10 months after she was first detained and then imprisoned on drug charges.

While the US was able to negotiate her release, other Americans remain in Russian custody, including former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

Russia has so far refused to release Whelan over the severity of the espionage charges.

Last week, Russia freed a US citizen who infiltrated its Kaliningrad exclave weeks after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Taylor Dudley, 35, a US Navy veteran, was traveling in Europe when he crossed the Polish-Russian border in April, lawyer Jonathan Franks, who represents families of Americans detained abroad, told Reuters.

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