Sweden charges man with spying for Russia on Sweden, US
PHOTO CAPTION: Representational photo via Reuters
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish prosecutors indicted a man on Monday on charges of spying on Sweden and the United States on behalf of Russia over a nine-year period.
Police arrested Sergej Skvortsov - a citizen of both Sweden and Russia - in November last year on the outskirts of Stockholm, together with a second individual who was released shortly after.
The 60-year-old was charged with carrying out gross unlawful intelligence activity against the two countries between 2013 and 2022, according to the indictment.
Skvortsov's lawyer said he denied any wrongdoing. "He reiterates that he denies all charges," the lawyer, Ulrika Borg, told Reuters.
Prosecutors said Skvortsov had acted on behalf of Russia to gather information that could negatively affect U.S. and Swedish security.
They added that Skvortsov had also bought objects on behalf of Moscow that the Russian state and armed forces could not procure on the open market due to export regulations and sanctions.
"Skvortsov and his company have been a platform for the Russian military intelligence service GRU and part of the Russian state for illicit technology procurement from the West," the indictment read.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Peter Graff and Andrew Heavens)
