A Russian diplomat has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after he was caught selling secrets to US intelligence.
The moment when Arseny Konovalov was ambushed by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) was caught on video.
Video circulated by Russian news outlets today showed the 38-year-old man looking shocked as he was detained while traveling in a van after being told he was suspected of treason.
A separate video shows the diplomat behind bars awaiting trial.
A Moscow A court on Friday found the former Russian diplomat guilty of treason and sentenced him to 12 years in a maximum security colony.
He was also fined the equivalent of $1,200.
“It was established that Russian Foreign Ministry employee A.S. Konovalov, during a long foreign business trip to the United States for money, proactively transferred classified information to American intelligence,” the FSB said in a statement.
Konovalov was first detained by the FSB, which heads Russian counterintelligence, in March 2024.
Join the discussion
What do you think makes diplomats betray their country for the intelligence of a rival country?
The moment when Arseny Konovalov was ambushed by FSB officers was caught on video
A separate video shows the 38-year-old diplomat behind bars awaiting trial.
Konovalov will spend 12 years behind bars after a Moscow court found him guilty of treason
The FSB did not specify what information Konovalov passed on to American intelligence and what American agency he was accused of collaborating with.
There were no comments from American spy agencies.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Konovalov served as second secretary of the Russian Consulate General in Houston.
He worked in the United States from 2014 to 2017, the publication reports.
