Sergei Stepashin appealed to the court as a private citizen, calling Zhirinovsky's charges libelous and "an offensive and absolutely groundless attack," agency spokesman Vladimir Tomarovsky told Itar-Tass.
Zhirinovsky made the accusations Nov. 18 during parliament hearings on a counterintelligence bill. He said Stepashin was an agent for the Mossad, Israel's secret service, and called the Federal Counterintelligence Service "a branch of the CIA and Mossad."
Last week, Zhirinovsky's aides tried to persuade Stepashin not to sue.
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