FACING YEARS

Russia Charges Ex-U.S. Consulate Worker in Alleged American Diplomat Plot

The FSB claims Robert Shonov gathered details “about the special military operation” and other events.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday charged a former employee of a U.S. consulate with collecting information about the war in Ukraine and other issues at the request of American diplomats. The arrest of Robert Shonov, who worked at the consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years, was first reported in May. Now the FSB has accused him of “gathering information about the special military operation, mobilization processes in Russian regions, problems and the assessment of their influence on protest activities of the population in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.” The security agency also said it had issued summonses to two American diplomats who allegedly ordered Shonov to gather the information. The U.S. State Department condemned Shonov’s arrest earlier this year, saying his only role at the time was to collate “media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources.” Shonov now faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.