Russian intelligence has opened a criminal case against a US citizen suspected of “biological” espionage, authorities said on Thursday.
The Federal Security Service didn’t give names or details, or say whether anyone had been detained.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has initiated criminal proceedings against a US citizen in reference to the crime under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – “espionage”” The agency said in a transient statement.
“The American is suspected of collecting biological intelligence against the safety of the Russian Federation,” the FSB added.
He didn’t explain the character of the allegations.
![Pedestrians' shadows cast on the wall of an underpass near the Kremlin and Red Square during a cold sunset in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, January 12, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/american-biological-espionage-russia-feat-image.jpg?w=1024)
There was no immediate response from the State Department to The Post’s request for comment.
The disturbing announcement comes six weeks after WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penitentiary colony and returned to the US after being sentenced to over nine years in prison for drug charges.
After nearly 10 months in Russian custody, the two-time Olympic gold medalist has been exchanged for notorious arms dealer Viktor But.
![An FSB officer checks a detained hacker's laptop.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/american-biological-espionage-russia-03.jpg?w=1024)
Spy cases involving foreign nationals are traditionally tougher to resolve than criminal cases, and Russian security services are sometimes unwilling to release accused spies.
Russia has thus far refused to interchange marine veteran Paul Whelan, who was arrested by the FSB in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
![Photo of Britney Griner on the plane after being released from Russian authorities.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/american-biological-espionage-russia-08.jpg?w=1024)
![Photo of Paul Whelan in a Russian prison.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/american-biological-espionage-russia-10.jpg?w=1024)
Last week, Russia released Taylor Dudley, a 35-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who in April made his way from Poland to Kaliningrad – a separate exclave of Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania – backpacking across Europe, in keeping with a lawyer representing the families of Americans detained abroad .
Originally from Michigan, he was in Poland for a music festival; it just isn’t clear why he crossed the road.
With postal wires