YEKATERINBURG, April 3. /TASS/.The Sverdlovsk Region’s branch of the Russian Federal Security Service (the FSB), together with its other offices in Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and the Omsk Region, have thwarted the illegal transfer of classified maps designed for military use to a foreign party, the press service of the FSB’s Directorate in the Sverdlovsk Region reported on Tuesday.

"[The FSB] has foiled the activities of a cell of individuals involved in the illegal collection of topographic materials designed for military use to subsequently transfer them to a foreign party. Investigative operations were conducted simultaneously at the apartments of three Russian citizens and a Ukrainian national in the cities of Yekaterinburg, Simferopol and Omsk, during which electronic and paper copies of confidential topographic maps of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff were uncovered and confiscated," the press service said.

The PR office added that the detained individuals had been given official warnings against acts that lay the groundwork for committing crimes under the "High Treason" and "Espionage" sections of Russia’s Criminal Code.

"All the detainees admitted that through their actions, they created a threat to Russia’s security and vowed they would refrain from such acts in the future. One of these individuals was earlier charged with a criminal offense under the High Treason section of Russia’s Criminal Code," the press service noted.