MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Russian national Robert Shonov, a former employee of the US consulate in Vladivostok, with collecting data on Moscow’s special military operation, the FSB said in a statement.

"The Federal Security Services put an end to the illegal activities of Russian national Robert Shonov, a former employee of the US consulate in Vladivostok and an informer of the US embassy in Moscow. He has been charged with committing a crime under Article 275.1 of the Russian Criminal Code ('Cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state')," the statement reads.

According to the FSB, "Shonov was acting on instructions from Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein, employees of the political department of the US embassy in Moscow, from September 2022 until the time of his detention, collecting data on the special military operation, mobilization processes across Russia, related problems and their impact on protest moods among the population ahead of the 2024 Russian presidential election."

The FSB added that the two US diplomats were expected to be questioned; "the corresponding summonses have been sent to the US embassy in Moscow."

The agency is carrying out investigative actions to establish all the circumstances of the Russian citizen’s illegal activities.

Article 275.1, which was introduced to the Russian Criminal Code in July 2022, provides for imprisonment between three and eight years and a potential additional fine of up to one mln rubles ($10,400).