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Russia Arrests Soldier Suspected Of Spying For Ukraine


A 26-second video the FSB published on November 20 showed the arrest taking place inside the suspect's home in the town of Aksay. (illustrative photo)
A 26-second video the FSB published on November 20 showed the arrest taking place inside the suspect's home in the town of Aksay. (illustrative photo)

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a military serviceman on suspicion of spying on behalf of Ukraine in the Rostov region.

The Russian citizen is facing charges of committing state treason and faces between 12 to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

According to the FSB, the detainee "while carrying out tasks" for Ukrainian military intelligence, "purposefully collected secret information of a military nature concerning the Armed Forces of Russia, the leakage of which could cause damage to the defense capabilities of the state abroad."

Ukraine's Defense Ministry has not commented on the situation.

A 26-second video the FSB published on November 20 showed the arrest taking place inside the suspect's home in the town of Aksay.

FSB officers are seen entering the residence, where they apprehend him lying face down on his stomach with handcuffs. Later the suspect's face is briefly shown along with a notebook computer and mobile phone on a table in the room.

The Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian outlet that studies military conflicts using open-source data, identified the suspect as Ruslan Artykov, born in 1991.

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