Russian media: detained US citizen was caught in possession of classified information in Moscow
US citizen Paul Whelan was arrested by police shortly after receiving a storage device with information about a Russian state secret – a classified list of persons that American intelligence has been interested in for some time.
A source in Russia’s intelligence agency told Rosbalt that the operation to arrest Whelan was carried out in his room at the Metropol hotel. The American reportedly received an electronic medium with a list of all the staff of one of the classified Russian departments. Within five minutes after the delivery, FSB personnel burst into the room and arrested Whelan on charges of espionage. A flash drive with secret information was allegedly found in his possession.
According to the FSB source, Paul Whelan had been carrying out reconnaissance activity for 10 years and found his information sources online.