Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says a Russian soldier has been detained, along with a "female acquaintance," on suspicion of spying for Kyiv in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Defense Ministry has confirmed that the soldier, Dmitry Dolgopolov, had been a Ukrainian citizen who served in Ukraine’s military in Crimea until Russia seized and illegally annexed of the Ukrainian territory in 2014.
The Ukrainian ministry said Dolgopolov took on Russian citizenship after the annexation and joined Russia’s military.
The FSB said on September 29 that Dolgopolov and the detained woman, Anna Sukhonosova, are suspected of sending information to Ukraine's main intelligence directorate about Russia's Black Sea fleet, which is based in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
The FSB said Dolgopolov currently is a member of Russia's military forces in Crimea, adding that he and Sukhonosova were detained together on September 29 at an apartment in the region's capital, Simferopol.
The suspects were later brought to Moscow, where a court sanctioned their arrests. The FSB said the two are facing charges of high treason against Russia, and could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.