Russia begins criminal case against US citizen for suspected espionage

The FSB did not name the person or provide any other details, nor did it say whether the suspect had been arrested.

A number of US citizens have been detained on criminal charges in Russia in recent years, with some ultimately freed in exchange for Russians detained in the United States. In December, the US basketball star Brittney Griner was freed after being sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges.

She was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who spent 14 years in prison in the US for arms trafficking, money laundering and conspiring to kill Americans.

However, espionage cases are seen as especially fraught, with Russian security services often unwilling to release those it accuses of being spies.

Russia has so far refused to swap the US Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan, who was arrested by the FSB in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.