INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A previous worker of the United States consulate in the Far East city of Vladivostok has actually been sentenced to 4 years and 10 monthsin
prison for secret partnership with a foreign state, Russian state media reported Friday.Robert Shonov, a Russian person, had worked for
more than 25 years at the United States consulate
He was forced to quit in 2021 whenRussian authorities enforced restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.Afterward, Shonov
worked as a personal specialist for the United States Embassy in Moscow assembling press accounts from publicly accessible Russian media,
according to the United States State Department.He was apprehended in early 2023 on suspicion of passing secret information about Russias
war in Ukraine to the United States in exchange for money
However, Russian law enforcement authorities formally revealed his arrest just in September of that year.According to a ruling published on
the Primorye region court site, 400,000 rubles ($4,103) and an electronic gadget connected to Shonovs personal contractor work were
seized.In September 2023, Moscow expelled United States Embassy employeesJeff Sillin and David Bernstein, whom itaccused of acting as
intermediaries for Shonov.Russian-United States relations have greatly degraded because President Vladimir Putin purchased the full-scale
intrusion of Ukraine in February 2022
Washington was forced tosuspendits 2 remaining consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg before the wardue to Russian-imposed staffing
rules.AFP contributed reporting.
