A US soldier has been arrested on suspicion of sharing secrets about an American tank in exchange for Russian citizenship.
Taylor Adam Lee, 22, was arrested and charged with espionage on Wednesday for sharing classified information about the army’s M1A2 Abrams with Moscow.
Mr Lee, an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, was charged under the Espionage Act with attempted transmission of national defence information to a foreign adversary, as well as the Arms Export Control Act, federal prosecutors said.
According to the justice department, Mr Lee “attempted to provide classified military information on US tank vulnerabilities” online in “exchange for Russian citizenship”.
Starting in May this year, the soldier is said to have begun trying to send US military information to Russia’s ministry of defence.
Mr Lee, who held a top secret security clearance, wrote online in June that “the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses”, adding: “At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way,” according to the department of justice (DoJ).
‘Mission accomplished’
At an in-person meeting in July with someone he believed to be a Russian government representative, Mr Lee allegedly passed on an SD memory card and provided a detailed explanation of the sensitive information it contained.
This included documents on the M1A2 Abrams – America’s main battle tank – as well as another armoured fighting vehicle and combat operations.
Mr Lee also allegedly discussed providing the Russian government with a specific piece of hardware from inside the M1A2 Abrams tank, which he appeared to deliver to a storage unit in El Paso, Texas on July 31.
Upon delivery, he sent a message to his contact, stating, “mission accomplished”, according to the DoJ.
Lee accused of ‘betraying’ US
After a warrant for Mr Lee’s arrest was filed in El Paso federal court on Tuesday, he made his initial court appearance the following day.
Investigators accused Mr Lee of “betraying” the US and have used his arrest to send a warning to anyone else considering leaking military intelligence.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counter-intelligence division, said: “Today’s arrest is a message to anyone thinking about betraying the US – especially service members who have sworn to protect our homeland.”
The incident comes as the military struggles with foreign agents targeting US servicemen to give up sensitive information.
Earlier this year, Chinese intelligence targeted a navy officer online and bribed him thousands of dollars to extract information about military exercises and radar technology.
Meanwhile, former national guardsman Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year for leaking classified information about the war in Ukraine on the messaging app Discord.
“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our US Army,” said Brigadier General Sean F Stinchon, the commanding general of army counter-intelligence command.
“Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice.”