The FSB accused a US diplomat of collecting data on mobilization and “SVO”

The Federal Security Service of Russia has charged Robert Shonov, a former employee of the US consulate in Vladivostok, who was previously detained in a case of confidential cooperation with a foreign state. This is reported by TASS with reference to the press service of the Center for Public Relations of the FSB.

According to the FSB, as an “informant for the US Embassy in Moscow”, Shonov has been collecting information since September 2022 “about the course of a special military operation” (as the Russian authorities call the war in Ukraine) and about mobilization in the regions of Russia, as well as “about problematic moments and assessment of their influence on the protest activity of the population on the eve of the presidential elections of Russia in 2024”.

The FSB plans to interrogate Geoffrey Sillin and David Bernstein, employees of the political department of the US Embassy in Moscow, who, according to the special service, gave Shonov assignments. The FSB does not say exactly what data Shonov collected and whether it is considered secret.

RIA “Novosti” publishes a video of Shonov’s detention. On it, FSB officers put on the overalls of one of the communal services to detain Shonov. During the interrogation, Shonov said that the secretary of the embassy, ​​David Bernstein, allegedly instructed him to look for “journalists, politicians, businessmen who are loyal to the United States and who could later be used to gather information.”

• Robert Shonov, a 62-year-old former employee of the US Consulate General in Vladivostok, was arrested in the spring of 2023. At the same time, Daniil Krynary was arrested in St. Petersburg, who is suspected of collaborating with Ukraine. “Mediazona” assumed that the affairs of Shonov and Krynar were connected.
• The US State Department condemned Shonov’s detention, calling the charges unfounded. According to the department, Shonov worked in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, and after the consulate was closed in April 2021, he worked for a company with which a contract was concluded for the provision of services to the US Embassy in Moscow. At the time of his arrest, Shonov’s only responsibility was to collect materials from publicly available Russian mass media, the State Department said in a statement.
• The article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state appeared in the Russian Criminal Code in July 2022. Those accused of it face from 3 to 8 years of imprisonment.

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