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The FSB issued a statement that Russia has arrested an American citizen in Moscow for alleged espionage. The public relations center of FSB said in a statement: “On December 28, 2018, staff members of the Russian Federal Security Service detained U.S citizen Paul Whelan in Moscow while on a spy mission”. The statement has indicated that Whelan had been caught during an act of espionage. The Russian officials said that they had launched an investigation and Whelan could spend 10-20 years in prison if he is found guilty of violating Russia’s penal code Article 276.

It is still unclear what activities Whelan was allegedly engaged in. The U.S Embassy in Moscow directed questions to the State Department. A state department spokesperson said, “We are aware of the detention of a U.S. citizen by Russian authorities. We have been formally notified of the detention by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Russian allegations under the Vienna Convention require them to provide consular access.  We have requested this access and expect Russian authorities to provide it”.

Brother of Paul Whelan, David Whelan posted a Tweet:

My brother was detained by the Russian government on Friday as an alleged spy. While the law library + info focus will remain, you may see an increase in off-message topics until we get him safely home. pic.twitter.com/2HIF1UmS1b

— David Whelan (@davidpwhelan) January 1, 2019

The State Department declined to provide additional information about Whelan due to privacy concerns. The U.S Embassy in Moscow posted a message on its Facebook page on December 26, claiming that passport and visa services at the embassy would continue through the government shutdown. The message has indicated that the embassy wasn’t working at full capacity. The embassy earlier pointed out, “we will not update this account until full operations resume, with the exception of urgent safety and security information”.

It is noteworthy that a former member of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad said last week that Russia had picked Trump for the presidency and “ran” him. The former Mossad chief, Tamir Pardo said, “Officials in Moscow looked at the 2016 U.S. presidential race and asked, ‘Which candidate would we like to have sitting in the White House? Who will help us achieve our goals?’ And they chose him. They deployed a system of bots for the length of the elections, and ran him for president”.