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Russia informs US embassy of US citizen’s detention

The Russian Foreign Ministry informed the embassy that Russian security services had taken an American citizen into custody but released him later

© AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

MOSCOW, March 15 /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry has informed the US embassy in Moscow of detention of a US citizen in Russian territory, the embassy’s press secretary, William Stevens, told TASS.

The Russian Foreign Ministry informed the embassy that Russian security services had taken an American citizen into custody but released him later, Stevens said.

The diplomat refused to give any further details, which, he said, were confidential.

In mid-March 2016, US citizen Paul Brian Filmer was detained near the Chkalovsky military airfield in the Moscow region for using a radio scanner set on the flight center’s frequency and for photographing military and special task aircraft utilized at the airport.

"The competent authorities told the foreigner that his actions were inadmissible. They released the US citizen who arrived in Russia on a tourist visa after drawing up a protocol," a Russian security service source said.

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