Russia’s intelligence service has opened a criminal case against a US citizen suspected of “biological” espionage, officials announced Thursday.
The Federal Security Service didn’t provide a name or details, nor did it say if anyone was taken into custody.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against a US citizen on the grounds of a crime under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — ‘Espionage’,” the agency said in a brief statement.
“The American is suspected of collecting intelligence on biological topics directed against the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB added.
It didn’t elaborate on the nature of the allegations.

There was no immediate response from the State Department to The Post’s request for comment.
The disturbing announcement comes six weeks after WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony and returned to the US after being sentenced to more than nine years on drug charges.
After spending nearly 10 months in Russian custody, the two-time Olympic gold medalist was exchanged for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Espionage cases involving foreign nationals are traditionally more difficult to resolve than criminal cases, with Russian security services often unwilling to release accused spies.
Russia has so far refused to swap Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan, who was arrested by the FSB in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.


Last week, Russia released Taylor Dudley, a 35-year-old US Navy veteran who in April had crossed from Poland into Kaliningrad — a detached exclave of Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania — while backpacking through Europe, according to a lawyer representing families of Americans detained overseas.
The Michigan native had been in Poland for a music festival; it’s not clear why he crossed the border.
With Post wires