The U.S. is very upset about the arrest of a former employee of its mission in Russia, saying that the conspiracy charges against the man are “wholly without merit.”
Russian state-run news agency TASS says that Robert Shonov was arrested in Vladivostok, a city on the southeastern coast of the country. He is being charged with “collaboration on a confidential basis with a foreign state or international or foreign organization.”
According to the State Department, Shonov is a Russian citizen who worked for the U.S. Consulate General in the city for more than 25 years.
The State Department said that after Russia ordered that all local staff at the U.S. Mission be fired in 2021, Shonov worked for a private company that did work for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. They said this was in “strict compliance with Russia’s laws and regulations.”
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement that Mr. Shonov’s only job at the time of his arrest was to put together summaries of news stories from Russian media sources that were open to the public.
“The fact that he is being investigated under the “private cooperation” law shows how openly the Russian Federation is using more and more restrictive laws against its own people.”
Shonov could get up to eight years in prison, so he was taken to a jail in Russia called Lefortovo. The same detention center is allegedly holding Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia in March and has been called “wrongfully detained” by the United States.
Gershkovich was accused of spying, which both the White House and the Journal have strongly denied.
