U.S. soldier accused of spying linked to Russia arrested in the U.K.

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A U.S. Army worker has been arrested successful the U.K. connected suspicion that helium engaged successful espionage linked to Russia, British and U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.

The 41-year-old fishy was not identified, but a U.S. authoritative told CBS News helium is simply a elder serviceman based astatine Imjin Barracks, location to the office for NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. He was arrested Tuesday adjacent Gloucester, which is astir 100 miles westbound of London.

The worker is suspected of violations nether Section 1 and Section 3 of the U.K.'s National Security Act of 2023 — obtaining oregon disclosing protected accusation and assisting a overseas quality service, respectively. Metropolitan Police said the suspected enactment relates to Russia and they are carrying retired searches astatine 2 locations successful Gloucestershire — the region wherever the basal is located — related to the investigation.

The fishy was successful custody successful a London constabulary presumption arsenic of Tuesday, according to Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon, commanding wide of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command.

"The allegations are superior and our probe is precise overmuch ongoing," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, elder nationalist coordinator for the U.K's Counter Terrorism Policing force, successful a statement. "This enactment demonstrates the spot of our UK and US instrumentality enforcement and nationalist information partnerships, and I commend the enactment of each the teams involved. We volition enactment unneurotic to instrumentality robust enactment against those we fishy of immoderate transgression enactment that could undermine our nationalist security."

FBI Director Kash Patel said successful a connection that "this FBI has nary tolerance for anyone who breaks their oath to the United States and whose actions endanger our nationalist information and that of our partners."

In an annual menace update last month, Sir Ken McCallum, the caput of Britain's MI5 spy agency, accused Russia of "escalating their attempts astatine hybrid warfare," calling them "aggressor fig one" erstwhile it comes to threats against the United Kingdom.

The apprehension came arsenic the U.S., Russia and Ukraine began a caller circular of trilateral talks successful Abu Dhabi, the archetypal specified talks aimed astatine ending the warfare betwixt Russia and Ukraine successful astir 9 months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the discussions "constructive and rather substantive," though it seems nary of the participants expect immoderate contiguous breakthroughs, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejecting European demands for an contiguous ceasefire.

U.K. constabulary said the apprehension was not related to "any different ongoing Counter Terrorism Policing investigations," meaning it appears to beryllium unrelated to the caller suspected crippled astatine RAF Fairford, which officials person said is linked to Iran. The U.S. subject past period removed its bombers from that basal aft a information incidental that led to the arrests of five British men and 1 U.K.-Iranian nationalist successful precocious September. There are U.S. troops stationed astatine RAF Fairford, a British Royal Air Force base.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that 3 radical it accuses of being Iran-backed operatives were charged with plotting a violent onslaught astatine RAF Fairford. One of the suspects is successful custody successful New York. However, the different 2 are not successful custody astatine this time, 2 sources acquainted with the substance told CBS News.

Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

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