FBI Arrests Alleged Russian Spy in New York

Federal agents on Monday arrested an alleged Russian spy in New York accused of trying to collect economic intelligence and recruit U.S. sources while working for a Russian bank, officials said.

U.S. prosecutors named the alleged covert intelligence agent as Evgeny Buryakov, 39. He was to appear before U.S. Judge Sarah Netburn in a Manhattan federal court later Monday.

Prosecutors said he was assisted in his illegal spying activities by Russian spies Igor Sporyshev, 40, and Victor Podobnyy, 27, who had been attached to the Russian missions in New York.

Although both had been protected by diplomatic immunity they no longer live in the United States, and have been charged in absentia despite not being arrested, officials said.

U.S. prosecutors allege Buryakov worked as a covert agent for Moscow without notifying the U.S. government, operating undercover while officially working for a Russian bank in Manhattan.

The arrest is likely to rock already deeply strained relations between Moscow and Washington, which have been at their lowest ebb in years over the crisis in Ukraine and war in Syria.

In 2010, the United States arrested 10 alleged sleeper agents including Anna Chapman, accused of spying for Russia in the New York region who were then subject to a prisoner swap with Moscow.

U.S. officials said Monday's arrest harked back to the Cold War.

"These charges demonstrate our firm commitment to combating attempts by covert agents to illegally gather intelligence and recruit spies within the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder said.

"We will use every tool at our disposal to identify and hold accountable foreign agents operating inside this country -- no matter how deep their cover," he added.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said it showed that "more than two decades" after the Cold War, "Russian spies continue to seek to operate in our midst under cover of secrecy."

Buryakov is accused of working as an undercover agent for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency while posing as an employee in the Manhattan office of a Russian bank.

It is illegal in the Untied States for foreign spies to operate undeclared. While Sporyshev and Podobnyy were also allegedly SVR agents, they were protected by diplomatic immunity.

From November 2010 to November 2014, Sporyshev worked as Russia's trade representative in New York.

From December 2012, to September 2013, Podobnyy served as attache to the Russian mission to the United Nations in New York.

But while exempt from notifying the attorney general of the true nature of their work they were not allowed to conspire, aid or abet Buryakov with his work, US prosecutors said.

The trio allegedly met regularly and communicated through coded messages to exchange intelligence.

From March 2012 until mid-September 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) observed dozens of meetings in which Buryakov passed a bag, magazine, or slip of paper to Sporyshev at meetings set up by a short telephone call.

Prosecutors said they were recorded attempting to recruit U.S. citizens, including people working for major companies and several young women with ties to a New York university.

In 2013, Sporyshev asked Buryakov for help in asking questions to be used for intelligence gathering by others associated with "a leading Russian state-owned news organization," prosecutors said.

Officials said the net closed in on Buryakov after he met numerous times last summer with an FBI source posing as the representative of a wealthy investor looking to develop casinos in Russia.

The trio are charged with conspiring for Buryakov to act as an undeclared foreign agent.

Buryakov is also charged with acting as an undeclared foreign spy, and the other two with aiding and abetting that offense.

The charges against Buryakov are punishable by 15 years in prison.