Russia arrests former US Marine accused of 'spying on secret military agency'

US citizen Paul Whelan has been charged by Russian authorities with espionage aimed at gathering information about a secret military agency in Moscow and faces a prison sentence of 10-20 years,Telegraphyesterday citing sources familiar with the case.

According to the source, the Russian Security Service has been monitoring Whelan since May 2018 and has all of his phone and online chat records. Observers say that Whelan's target is most likely the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU), the organization suspected of being behind the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in March 2018.

Previously, Russian media quoted an anonymous intelligence source as saying that this former US Marine was caught red-handed spying when he received a USB containing a list of all employees of a Russian secret agency in a hotel.

The source also said that Whelan had been spying for 10 years, using the Internet to identify targets from whom he could extract information, and that the list of secret agency employees on the USB drive Whelan received before his arrest had long been a target of US spies.

Whelan, 48, a former US Marine Corps officer and director of global security for BorgWarner, a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, held four passports from the US, UK, Canada and Ireland when he was arrested.

Whelan's family insists he is innocent and was only in Moscow to attend a wedding. Washington has demanded an explanation from Moscow for Whelan's arrest, calling for his immediate release if it is determined that his arrest was unlawful.