US condemns arrest of former US Embassy employee in Russia

The U.S. is blasting the arrest of a former employee of its embassy in Russia, saying conspiracy charges against the man are “wholly without merit.”

Robert Shonov was detained in Vladivostok, a city on the southeastern coast of Russia, and charged with “collaboration on a confidential basis with a foreign state or international or foreign organization,” according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Shonov is a Russian national, according to the State Department, who worked for the U.S. Consulate General in the city for more than 25 years. The State Department said that after Russia ordered in 2021 that all local staff to the U.S. Mission be terminated, Shonov was employed by a private company that provided services to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, saying it was in “strict compliance with Russia’s laws and regulations.”

“Mr. Shonov’s only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “His being targeted under the ‘confidential cooperation’ statute highlights the Russian Federation’s blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.”

Shonov is facing up to eight years in prison and was taken to Russia’s Lefortovo detention center. It is the same detention center where Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia in March and who has been labeled as “wrongfully detained” by the U.S., is reportedly being held, according to The New York Times.

Gershkovich was accused of spying, claims that both the White House and the Journal have resolutely rejected.