Russia says it has opened a criminal case against a US citizen accused of espionage

Russia’s FSB security service said on Thursday it had opened a criminal case against a US citizen suspected of espionage, as ties between Moscow and Washington further frayed in nearly a year under the Kremlin. The offensive of Ukraine.

“The FSB of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against a US citizen on the grounds of the crime provided for in Article 276 “Espionage” of the Criminal Code,” the FSB said.

“The American is suspected of collecting intelligence information in the biological sphere directed against the security of the Russian Federation,” it added.

It did not contain any additional details.

Relations between Russia and the United States, already strained for years, have hit a new low since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine last year.

Several Americans are currently imprisoned in Russia, and both countries accuse each other of political arrests.

There have been several high-profile prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Washington.

Last month, Moscow released the American basketball star Britney Greener — arrested for importing hemp oil into the country — in exchange for a Russian arms dealer Viktor Booth.

Paul Whelanretired US Marine, was arrested in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on “espionage charges”.

“We have not forgotten Paul Whelan,” President Biden said after Griner’s release on December 8. He went on to say that the US would “never give up” on trying to negotiate Whelan’s freedom.

In a written letter shared on Instagram last month, Griner asked her fans writing letters to Whelan and “advocating that other Americans be rescued and returned to their families.”

“Thanks to the efforts of many, including you, I am home after almost 10 months,” she wrote. “You took the time to show me that you care, and I want to personally take the time to write to you and tell you that your efforts mattered. Your letters have helped me to not lose hope at a time when I was full of regret and vulnerable in ways I could never have imagined.’