A Moscow court has arrested a dual U.S.-Russian citizen on suspicion of espionage, Russian news agencies reported on August 17.
The agencies identified the dual citizen as Eugene Spector but provided no details on the charges against him. Interfax reported that he was taken into custody after a hearing in Lefortovo district court in Moscow.
Spector, who is of Russian origin, was previously convicted in the case of Anastasia Alekseeva, an assistant to former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.
The Ostankinsky Court of Moscow found Spector guilty on the bribery charge in June 2021 and sentenced him to 4 1/2 years in prison. The sentence was overturned on appeal and at a retrial late last year lowered to 3 1/2 years.
Spector was the chairman of the board of directors of the Medpolimerprom Group of Companies, which specializes in drugs for cancer.
Alekseeva, who was sentenced to 12 years for taking bribes, allegedly received trips to foreign resorts in exchange for not including a number of weight-loss drugs on the list of banned substances in Russia. It is unclear whether the fresh accusations against Spector are in connected with this case.
The hearing on August 17 was held behind closed doors as the case materials are classified, Interfax reported.
Moscow already holds other U.S. citizens, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, on charges of espionage, which he and his newspaper deny. Gershkovich was arrested in March and accused by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of collecting military secrets in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The United States considers Gershkovich and another U.S. citizen, Paul Whelan, wrongfully detained -- a term that effectively says the case is politically motivated -- and has called for their immediate release.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with Whelan, according to CNN on August 16, reportedly telling him to "keep the faith" and assuring him that the United States is doing everything it can to bring him home as soon as possible.
Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested in December 2018, held for 18 months in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, and then jailed for 16 years on spying charges, which he and the U.S. government deny.