In a story that brings back memories of the Cold War, Russia's Federal Security Services detained a U.S. diplomat who they claim is a CIA agent who attempted to recruit a Russian agent.
The detained man is Ryan Christopher Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, according to the Washington Post.
When Fogle was detained he was carrying a large sum of cash, disguises, technical equipment and written instructions a statement released by Russia's Federal Security Service read.
Relations between the United States and Russia have been tense lately and this incident should strain those relations even more. It is the first time in a decade that an American diplomat has been publicly accused of being a spy, according to the Washington Post. Fogle was turned over to U.S. officials on Monday.
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has been summoned by Russia's Foreign Ministry to appear on Wednesday in order to address the accusation, The New York Times reported.
A Russian website has pictures and video of Fogle in a hat and ill-fitting blonde wig taken as he was being detained. The website also posted pictures of everything Fogle is accused of carrying with him including a letter of recruitment for a new agent.
The letter offers $100,000 for the recipient to "discuss your experience, expertise and cooperation." It also explains how the recruit should open up a Gmail account for correspondence. The letter is addressed "Dear friend," and is very complimentary.
"This is a down-payment from someone who is very impressed with your professionalism and who would greatly appreciate your cooperation in the future," the letter read. "Your security means a lot to us. This is why we chose this way of contacting you. We will continue to make sure our correspondence remains safe and secret."
One Russian expert on spying, Yvgenia M. Albats, author of a 1994 book on the K.G.B., was taken aback by how stupidly Fogle appears to have acted.
"I'm just surprised that the guy was such an idiot," Albats said. "I am not interested so much in this Christopher Fogle as much as the person he was trying to recruit, and why did he have to do it in such an old-fashioned way? It sounds like the seventies."
A professor at NYU who studies Russian intelligence, Mark Galeotti, told the Washington Post that the public attention being paid to Fogle's detention suggests that the incident was being exploited for political purposes by Vladimir Putin's government.
"More often, the etiquette is that these things get dealt with quite quietly - unless they want to get a message out," Galeotti said. "If you identify an embassy staffer who is a spy for the other side, your natural impulse is to leave them be, because once you identify you can keep tabs on them, see who they talk to and everything else. There's no reason to make a song and dance, detain them, eject them."
