Former US Embassy employee charged with conspiracy in Russia: state news agency

A former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Russia has been arrested and charged with conspiracy, according to the Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Robert Shonov was reportedly detained in Vladivostok and charged with “collaboration on a confidential basis with a foreign state or international or foreign organization,” TASS reported.

Shonov, who faces up to eight years in prison, was taken to Moscow’s Lefortovo detention center.

Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia since March on espionage charges, is also currently being held at Lefortovo, according to The New York Times.

The State Department officially labeled Gershkovich as as wrongfully detained last month, as both the Biden administration and the Wall Street Journal have rejected the claims that the reporter was spying.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan also spent time in Lefortovo ahead of his 2020 trial, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges, the Times reported. Whelan, who is also considered wrongfully detained, has spent more than four years detained in Russia.