Two men from the remote Siberian town of Borzya have received an official warning from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) after inventing state secrets to sell to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The pair fabricated stories on military units deployed in the area, the number of Russian troops in Ukraine and missiles aimed at the United States, the Interfax-Siberia news agency reported, citing the Trans-Baikal regional branch of the FSB.
One of the men first sent a letter to the CIA in 2015, in which he posed as a potential informer and offered to sell secret information on Russia's armed forces.
When the CIA replied, the man then turned to his friend, who had previously served as a conscript, to aid him in inventing “secrets.”
The CIA never confirmed that they would
pay the pair, and the FSB ensured that contact ceased between the organization and the two men.
“These young
people were let off without a criminal charge as they gave no real
secrets to the CIA,” said a spokesperson for the FSB, who confirmed
that the former conscript had never had access to classified
information. “A caution was enough.”
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