TEMPO.CO, New York - A Russian man has been charged in connection with a Cold War-style Russian spy ring that tried to recruit New York residents as intelligence sources. Two other Russians who no longer live in the US also face charges.
Evgerny Burykov, also known as “Zhenya,” was arrested on Monday in New York City’s Bronx area after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found that he had been posing as an employee in a Russian bank in Manhattan while working for Russia’s foreign intelligence agency.
Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy, who are also accused of spying on the US, have left the country. Between 2010 and 2014, Sporyshev served as a trade representative of Russia while Phodobnyh worked as an attache at the Russian mission to the United Nations from December 2012 to September 2013.
The defendants were directed by the Russian government to gather intelligence data on US sanctions towards Russian banks and US attempts to develop alternative energy resources.
The investigation was an offshoot of the arrest of 10 covert agents who infiltrated suburban America in 2010.
In a statement on Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder said the new case "demonstrates our firm commitment to combating attempts by covert agents to illegally gather intelligence and recruit spies within the United States".
"We will use every tool at our disposal to identify and hold accountable foreign agents operating inside this country - no matter how deep their cover," Holder said.
DEUTSCHE WELLE | WINONA AMANDA
