Russia said it has arrested a former employee of a United States consulate on charges of collecting information about Moscows war in Ukraine, Interfaxreported Monday.The United States State Department had in Maydenounced Robert Shonovs detention in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, saying he had been performing routine activities as a private contractor.Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had charged Shonov with confidential collaboration with a foreign state, a crime punishable by three to eight years in prison.He is accused of gathering information on Russias "special military operation in Ukraine, its military draft and protest activities in the run-up to the 2024 Russian presidential elections.The State Department said in May that Shonov was at the time of his arrest an employee of a private company contracted by the United States Embassy in Moscow that compiles press accounts from publicly accessible Russian media.The FSBpublished a video of Shonovs arrest and testimony in which he named the United States Embassy employees Jeff Sillin and David Bernstein as persons who had sought his services in September 2022.I had to collect negative information, seek out discontent and reflect it in my reports, Shonovsaid.Russias FSB said it has sent requests to the United States Embassy in Moscow to question Sillin and Bernstein.Shonov had worked for the United States consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years until 2021, when Moscow imposed restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.Russian-United States relations have deteriorated since Moscows invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.Even before the war, the United States hadsuspended its two remaining consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg due to Russian-imposed staffing challenges.