Russia's foreign ministry criticized the U.S. on Tuesday over charges that three men allegedly worked as part of a Russian spy ring in New York City.
On Monday, the U.S. government announced criminal charges against the men who supposedly conspired to gather economic intelligence information for Russia regarding U.S.-imposed sanctions.
According to prosecutors, Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy were attempting to recruit New York City residents as intelligence sources, Reuters reported.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Tuesday that no proof has been presented to back such accusations.
"One gets an impression the US authorities have decided to resort to their favourite tactic of unfolding spy scandals," Lukashevich told Russian state-run news organization TASS. "Due to Washington's hostile stance Russian-US relations have long experienced no easy times. Apparently, the United States follows 'the worse - the better' principle in an attempt to start another spiral of an anti-Russian campaign."
"The effects of such actions, aggravating the atmosphere of bilateral relations and undermining the prospects of our cooperation, will remain a matter of conscience of their masterminds," Lukashevich said. "We insist on a stop to the string of provocations against Russian representatives unleashed by US secret services, and on immediate consular access to Buryakov, on the strict observance of the Russian citizen's rights and on his release."
Buryakov, who was arrested Monday, is said to have worked undercover as a banker in a New York office of a Russian bank. The complaint alleges that 39-year-old Buryakov covertly worked for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR.
In statements released this week, the FBI labeled Buryakov as an "extremely valuable intelligence asset."
The two other men allegedly assisted Buryakov in his efforts. Sporyshev is a government trade representative, and Podobnyy served as a Russian U.S. diplomat, but since both men have diplomatic immunity, they have left the country and are still at-large, reported The Atlantic.
The two officials who allegedly assisted him were Igor Sporyshev, a government trade representative, and Victor Podobnyy, who served as one of Russia's attaches to the UN. Both face charges of up to 10 years, but have diplomatic immunity and have left the country anyway.
In 2010, the FBI arrested 10 alleged Russian spies working in a "long term, deep cover" mission with a goal of gathering intelligence and developing ties to "policymaking circles," the Guardian reported.
According to the FBI, the group gathered information about nuclear weapons, the gold market and personnel changes at the CIA, and was even able to establish a relationship with a scientist working with nuclear bombs and a New York financier with powerful political ties.
