Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US State Department said it “strongly condemns” the reported arrest of a former employee of the US mission in Russia, identified as Robert Shonov.

The allegations that Shonov illegally collaborated with foreigners is “wholly without merit,” it added.

This week, a report by Russian state news agency TASS said that Russian national Shonov was detained in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, but is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, usually reserved for serious crimes, such as those charged with espionage.

In a statement this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Shonov was employed by the US Consulate-General in Vladivostok for more than 25 years until Russia ordered the termination of the US mission’s local staff in 2021.

At the time of his arrest, Shonov was employed by a company contracted to provide services to the US embassy in Moscow, Miller added, stressing that this arrangement complied with Russia’s laws and regulations.

“His being targeted under the ‘confidential cooperation’ statute highlights the Russian Federation’s blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens,” Miller said.

Meanwhile, TASS reported a law enforcement agency as stating that “after interrogation,” Shonov was charged and could face up to eight years in prison.

In late March, the FSB detained and charged Evan Gershkovich, a US journalist for the Wall Street Journal, with spying, a move that the White House called “ridiculous and illegal.”