FBI Arrests 'Russian Spy' In New York

FBI agents have arrested an alleged Russian spy in connection with a Cold War-style spy ring that authorities say tried to recruit New York City residents as intelligence sources.

The alleged covert intelligence agent has been named as Evgeny Buryakov, and he is due to appear at a Manhattan federal court later on Monday.

Prosecutors say Buryakov worked as a covert agent for Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, without telling the US government.

According to court documents, Buryakov posed as an employee in the Manhattan office of the Russian bank Vnesheconombank.

As well as recruiting sources, the 39-year-old, who is in the US on a work visa, is accused of trying to collect economic intelligence.

Two more members of the alleged spy ring, Igor Sporyshev, 40, and Victor Podobnyy, 27, are protected by diplomatic immunity but do not live in the US anymore, prosecutors say.

Although neither of them have been arrested, charges have been filed against them in absentia.

They both held low-level diplomatic positions.

The alleged conspiracy began in 2012, following the expulsion of several Russian spies from the US in 2010.

The three men "regularly met and communicated using clandestine methods and coded messages, in order to exchange intelligence-related information while shielding their associations with one another as (foreign intelligence) agents," the documents said.

The trio were directed "to gather intelligence on, among other subjects, potential United States sanctions against Russian banks and the United States' efforts to develop alternative energy resources".

They also tried to recruit New York City residents as intelligence sources, US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

Mr Holder said: "These charges demonstrate our firm commitment to combating attempts by covert agents to illegally gather intelligence and recruit spies within the United States."

US Attorney Preet Bharara said: "The presence of a Russian banker in New York would in itself hardly draw attention today, which is why these alleged spies may have thought Buryakov would blend in."

He added that the charges "make it clear that - more than two decades after the presumptive end of the Cold War - Russian spies continue to seek to operate in our midst."

The defendants have been charged with acting as or helping Buryakov to act as an unregistered agent of Russia, and conspiracy.

The former charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Prosecutors say the case is based on physical and electronic surveillance of dozens of meetings, including a number in which Buryakov spoke with an FBI agent posing as a wealthy investor who wanted to build casinos in Russia.

They said Buryakov would ask for information "far outside" what a banker in his position would care about, including a list of Russian entities that could be hit by future US sanctions.