MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. A former employee of a defense company in Russia’s Omsk Region has been detained for spying for Germany, the Russian Federal Security Service said on Friday.

"The Russian Federal Security Service documented and prevented the espionage activity in the interests of Germany by a former employee of a defense industry company in the Omsk Region," said the agency, also known as the FSB. "FSB agents have detained the person, and a criminal case was started against him under Article 275 (treason) of the Russian Criminal Code."

"According to the obtained information, a Russian citizen, acting of his own volition, contacted a representative of Germany with the aim of providing information in the military field in exchange for assistance in obtaining German citizenship. As a result of an investigation, the criminal actions of the person, which were aimed at collecting information about important military facilities of the Russian Defense Ministry, which became known to him in the course of his official activities, were documented," the FSB said.

The charge of treason carries a prison term of 12 to 20 years in prison, but if treason was committed in April of this year or later, the punishment could be life imprisonment.