UK arrests US soldier suspected of spying for Russia

A member of the US army suspected of spying for Russia was arrested in Britain on Tuesday, London police said, following an investigation with support from the American military and law enforcement.

The case is the latest espionage allegation involving suspected Russian agents in Britain, a close ally of Ukraine which Moscow invaded in 2022.

Police said in a statement the 41-year-old American soldier was detained near Gloucester on suspicion he had violated national security laws and was in custody at a London police station.

"This significant arrest and investigation is a result of close collaboration between UK and US authorities," said Vicki Evans, London Metropolitan Police's Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing.

"The allegations are serious and our investigation is very much ongoing," she added.

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel thanked UK police and intelligence agencies.

"This important arrest involves allegations of espionage, which is of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies," he said, according to the London police statement.

The Pentagon referred AFP to the US army, which did not provide an immediate response to request for further details on the case.

Sean Stinchon, the commanding general of US Army Counterintelligence Command in the police statement described the alleged actions of the "senior solider, entrusted with sensitive information" as a "sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent".

Relations between Russia and Britain were frosty long before the Ukraine war began -- marred by several spy and assassination scandals, including the 2006 poisoning of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London and the 2018 attempted poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

In September, a British man appeared in court in London over allegations he was preparing to sabotage a drone factory and drone manufacturing sites on behalf of Russian military intelligence.

The investigation that led to the US soldier's arrest was "not linked to any other ongoing Counter Terrorism Policing investigations," police said.