Russia's FSB Accuses U.S. Citizen of 'Biological' Espionage

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced that it had opened a criminal case against an unnamed American citizen on allegations of engaging in "espionage" related to "biological topics."

The FSB—primarily responsible for internal security and counterintelligence—published a short statement on Thursday detailing the action but giving little detail.

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against a U.S. citizen on the grounds of the corpus delicti provided for in Article 276 of the Criminal Code 'Espionage,'" the statement published on the FSB website read.

"The American is suspected of collecting intelligence information on biological topics directed against the security of the Russian Federation."

The statement gave no indication on the U.S. citizen's identity, nor whether an arrest took place.

A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek they were "aware of unconfirmed reports of an investigation regarding a U.S. citizen in Russia... We are looking into the matter and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

"Generally, the Russian Federation does not abide by its obligations to provide timely notification of the detention of U.S. citizens in Russia," the spokesperson said. "Russian authorities also do not regularly inform the U.S. Embassy of the trials, sentencing, or movement of U.S. citizens detained in Russia."

"We strongly urge all U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Russia and U.S. citizens should leave immediately."

Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and ever-expanding U.S. backing for Kyiv—both bilaterally and under the NATO umbrella—have complicated law-and-order disputes involving American and Russian citizens abroad. Indeed, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow and Washington, D.C. were already at war.

The two nations did manage a high-profile prisoner swap in December, when American basketball star Brittney Griner was freed from a Russian jail having been detained in February 2022 and later sentenced to nine years behind bars on drug possession charges.

Notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was freed in exchange. Bout, who is believed to have extensive connections with the Kremlin and Russia's intelligence services, spent 14 years in American jails. He was convicted in 2011 on four counts including conspiring to provide weapons to a foreign terrorist organization as well as conspiring to kill Americans. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

In the case reported by the FSB on Thursday, the espionage charge and sensitive information involved could complicate a hypothetical situation in which an American citizen is detained. There is, as yet, no indication that the suspect has been arrested, or even that they are in Russia.

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who is now serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony having been convicted on espionage charges, was not involved in the December prisoner swap that freed Griner and Bout. Moscow reportedly refused to consider his freedom alongside Griner's.

Whelan, 52, was arrested by the FSB in Moscow in December 2018, accused of acting as a spy for military intelligence and caught with what Moscow said was a flash drive containing classified information.

Whelan claimed innocence, saying he was visiting Russia to attend a friend's funeral and that he had been given the drive by a Russian friend.

Whelan told CNN in December he was "greatly disappointed" to have not been included in the prisoner swap. "I was arrested for a crime that never occurred," he said, "I don't understand why I'm still sitting here."

Update 01/20/23, 4:00 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from the State Department.