- Robert Shonov says he was approached by US embassy employees “seeking information about the key developments in Russia”
A former employee of the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East pleaded guilty to collecting data about the course of Russia’s special military operation for U.S. diplomats, according to a video of the Russian citizen’s interrogation released by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) today Monday.
The FSB also said it plans to interrogate two U.S. diplomats who it claimed worked with the former Consulate ex-employee, adding that they have already been summoned to give evidence.
Shonov said he was approached by U.S. Embassy employees “seeking information about the key developments in Russia – the special military op, mobilization, the coming presidential election and the accession of new territories. I had to collect negative information about these events, find protest sentiment among the population and report those.”
In addition, the First Secretary of the U.S. Embassy tasked him with revealing people from among reporters, businessmen, and politicians who were loyal to the United States and who could be used for collecting info, like Shonov.
The FSB said that Shonov had been charged with collecting information about the course of the Russian special military operation for the United States.
According to the FSB, from last September until he was arrested, Shonov carried out tasks for two employees at the U.S. Embassy’s Political Department in Moscow who have been summoned to give evidence.
@TASS