A man described as an employee of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has been arrested in Vilnius on suspicion of spying, Lithuanian federal prosecutors said in a statement Monday.
Identified only by the initials "N.F.," the purported FSB employee had sought to "manipulate and influence" decision-making at the highest echelons of the Lithuanian government, the Prosecutor's Office said.
"The arrested [Russian national] was on a reconnaissance mission directed against Lithuania, whose goal was the infiltration of Lithuanian government bodies, law enforcement agencies and Lithuania's intelligence services," the statement read.
The FSB employee, who was arrested last week, has been placed under arrest for three months, Lithuanian authorities said.
Russian officials have yet to publicly react to the claims.
In December, Lithuanian law enforcement detained several members of an alleged spy ring, which had been operating within its armed forces near the NATO airbase in the city of Siauliai. The country's officials left open the possibility that Russia could have been involved in the infiltration of spies into the Lithuanian military, media reported at the time.
Under Lithuanian law, individuals found guilty of spying for a foreign state can face up to 15 years in prison.
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