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A stateless resident of Estonia has been arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia for gathering classified information of military nature on orders from the Estonian authorities, Interfax news agency said.
Russia's FSB announces arrest of alleged Estonian spy in St. Petersburg
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«Russia's FSB has detained Estonian resident and non-citizen Arsen Mardaleishvili, born 1969, in St. Petersburg on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 276 of the Russian Penal Code (espionage),» the FSB press center told Interfax on Friday.
«Mardaleishvili, acting on orders from the Estonian Interior Ministry's Security Police Office, was purposefully collecting classified military information about the armed forces of Russia,» it said.
The FSB press center also noted that a leak of military information to a foreign country «could have undermined the country's defense potential.»
A criminal investigation has been opened.
Interfax said the FSB has withheld further details.
Mardaleishvili was among the eight activists who left the Nochnoy Dozor (Night Watch) group in February 2010 citing dissatisfaction with the actions of the Nochnoy Dozor leaders Dmitri Linter and Maksim Reva.
Nochnoy Dozor was a grouping that played a central role in rallying opposition to the plan of the Estonian authorities to relocate the Soviet Soldier monument in Tallinn to a military cemetery, which eventually led to mass riots in Tallinn and some northeastern cities of Estonia in April 2007.