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According to Russian officials, a US citizen who was recently convicted of espionage was allegedly involved in collecting and transferring classified biotechnology data to the Pentagon.
Some shit you should know before you read: Back in August 2023, Eugene Spector, a US citizen and former chairman of a pharmaceutical company, was already serving a 3.5-year prison sentence in Russia after being convicted of bribery. He had admitted to providing free travel vouchers to an aide of a former Russian deputy prime minister in exchange for promoting certain pharmaceutical products. While still in prison, Spector was charged with espionage, though the details of the case were not made public at the time. Following his conviction for espionage in December 2023, his prison term was extended to a total of 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony, and he was fined 14 million rubles (approximately $135,000).
Getting into it: Following a Moscow court increasing Spector’s sentence, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) provided more information about the espionage allegations, accusing him of collecting and transmitting classified biotechnological and biomedical data to the Pentagon. The FSB stated that Spector acted on behalf of the US Department of Defense and a related commercial entity, with the purported goal of aiding the development of a high-speed genetic screening system focused on Russia’s population.
The agency added that the data shared by Spector included state secrets, which posed a significant threat to Russian national security. Despite the high-profile nature of the case, the trial was conducted behind closed doors, and the FSB did not disclose whether Spector admitted to the charges.
This all comes as there’s been an uptick of American citizens being jailed in Russia since the war in Ukraine broke out, fueling accusations that Moscow is manufacturing charges to use detainees as leverage amid deteriorating relations with the West. High-profile cases include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, both accused of espionage under vague circumstances.
