A former Russian intelligence officer whose cooperation with U.S. authorities led to the expulsion of 10 Russian undercover agents last year has been charged with high treason and desertion.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) in a statement today said that the indictment of Aleksandr Poteyev, the officer who tipped off U.S. authorities about the spy ring, had been passed to Moscow’s main military court.
U.S. authorities arrested the 10 undercover Russian agents last summer and eventually exchanged them for four Russians who allegedly spied for the West.
Russian media said Poteyev, the former deputy head of the U.S. clandestine operations department of the FSB, fled to the United States just before the arrests were announced.
High treason carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, while desertion is seven years.
compiled from agency reports