US denounces Russia's sentencing of its ex-consular employee

The United States said Saturday that it "strongly condemns" Russia's conviction and sentencing of a former employee of the US consulate in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

Robert Shonov, who worked for the consulate for more than 25 years, was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison for "secret collaboration with a foreign state," Russian agencies said Friday.

The US State Department, in a sharply worded statement Saturday, said the "conviction on meritless allegations is an egregious injustice."

The allegations were "entirely fictitious and without merit," said the statement from spokesman Matthew Miller.

Shonov worked for the consulate until 2021, when Moscow imposed restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.

Afterward, he worked as a private contractor compiling press accounts from publicly accessible Russian media, "in strict compliance with Russia's laws," according to the State Department.

Shonov was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of passing secret information about Russia's war in Ukraine to the United States in exchange for money.

According to the judgment published on a regional court website, 400,000 rubles ($4,100) and an electronic device were seized.

In September 2023, Russia expelled two US diplomats it accused of acting as liaison agents for Shonov.

In recent years, several US citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms in Russia. Others are being held pending trial.

Washington, which supports Ukraine militarily and financially against Russia's invasion, accuses Moscow of wanting to exchange those being held for Russians held in the United States.

Even after a landmark prisoner swap in August, several US nationals and dual nationals remain in detention in Russia.