Espionage

Russia's FSB says Estonian spy detained in St. Petersburg

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that Estonian resident Arsen Mardaleishvili, who was gathering classified military information about the Russian Armed Forces on orders from Estonian police, has been detained in St. Petersburg.

"Russia's FSB has detained Estonian resident and non-citizen Arsen Mardaleishvili, born 1969, in St. Petersburg on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 276 of the Russian Penal Code (espionage)," the FSB press center told Interfax on May 13.

According to Russian special services, "Mardaleishvili, acting on orders from the Estonian Interior Ministry's Security Police Office, was purposefully collecting classified military information about the Armed Forces of Russia."

The FSB press center also noted that a leak of military information to a foreign country "could have harmed the state's defense potential."