Russian colonel spying for the US

A former Russian officer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing thousands of images of secret Russian maps to US intelligence.

Russian army soldiers. Photo:AP

APColonel Vladimir Lazar will be sent to a high-security prison and stripped of his military rank, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said yesterday. Lazar was a colonel in the Main Military-Technical Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces before retiring in the early 2000s.

According to prosecutors, in 2008 Mr. Lazar bought computer disks containing more than 7,000 images of secret Russian maps from a collector and took them to the neighboring country.BelarusThere, he sold them to US intelligence officers through a middleman. The maps were then sent to the Pentagon. The FSB said the maps could be used in military planning against Russia.

Russian media reported that Colonel Lazar pleaded guilty in court. He had previously been accused of collaborating with US intelligence since 1994.

This is the latest in a series of espionage cases that have rocked Russia in recent years. Earlier this month, a court sentenced Alexander Gniteyev, an employee of a defense company, to eight years in prison for leaking information about Russia's advanced missile, the Bulava, to foreign intelligence. In February, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Nesterets, who oversaw missile tests in northern Russia, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after passing classified information to U.S. intelligence.

The spy cases have added to the difficulties in relations between Russia and the United States, amid Russia's strong opposition to the US plan.Washingtonbuilding a missile shield in Europe. The US believes that this shield is to deal with threats from countries such asIran, ButMoscowasserted that the system threatened Russia's national security.

According to Express-M