Russian Official Scolds Alleged US Spy on Camera

MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) – We’ve been playing so nice, how could you stab us in the back like this? That seemed to be the message delivered by a Russian security official to the US diplomat detained on suspicion of spying, according to a video released Tuesday by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and posted on YouTube.

“At first we couldn’t even believe this could happen,” said the white-haired official, his face blurred out, to the stoic-looking detainee, “because we know perfectly well that recently the FSB has been actively helping in the investigation of the Boston bombings,” as well as other threats to US national security.

The official noted fruitful recent discussions between presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama on cooperation between the countries’ special services, as well as this month’s visit to Moscow by FBI head Robert Mueller and the resulting agreement to cooperate on countering “Islamic extremism and so forth.”

“And against this backdrop, when relations between our countries are growing stronger, an American diplomat commits, in our estimation, a state crime against the Russian Federation,” said the official, a note of indignation in his voice, adding that it was “a most serious crime.”

© RIA Novosti Russian Federal Security Service

Neither the detainee, identified by the FSB as Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the US Embassy’s political department, nor the three men seemingly accompanying him made any response to the official’s comments on the available video.