Russian court extends arrest of Lithuanian spy

A Russian court has prolonged the arrest of a Lithuanian citizen on charges of espionage, in line with the investigators’ request.

Moscow’s Lefortovo district court ruled on Tuesday September 15 that Arstidas Tamosaitis would remain in custody until November 20, 2015.

On May 20, 2015, the court extended the detention of Tamosaitis until July 20. The ruling which has since been repeatedly increased.

The case has been classified by the Russian authorities.

Tamosaitis has been in Lefortovo detention facility since May 19, when he was apprehended in Moscow by the Russian Federal Security Service (the FSB) for allegedly exchanging classified information with a Russian national.

“The foreign spy was caught red-handed while obtaining a secret document from a Russian citizen,”  the FSB's press office said in a statement. 

The FSB added Tamosaitis had confessed he had been an officer of the Lithuania’s 2nd department in the country's intelligence service.

According to the FSB, upon presenting the evidence, Tamosaitis admitted he had been working as an operative for the Lithuanian military intelligence.

A few weeks before Tamosaitis' detention, a suspected Russian spy was arrested in Lithuania.

On April 30, a court in Vilnius issued a warrant for the three-month detention of the suspect, who had reportedly been working for the FSB.

The suspect allegedly attempted to infiltrate Lithuania’s government institutions, as well as its law-enforcement and intelligence services.