The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on Monday that 11 people had been detained as "unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States." It said 10 were arrested on Sunday and the other one remains at large. They could face imprisonment to up to 25 years. The United States did not specify what kind of secrets the individuals revealed.
The following is information on the juiciest spy scandals over the last five years.
* 2010
Eleven persons suspected of espionage on behalf of Russia were detained in two cases related with unlawful operations on U.S. territory in June. They may face imprisonment up to 25 years.
In April, India arrested a senior employee from the Indian embassy in Islamabad accused of espionage for Pakistan. According to local media, the woman, Madhuri Gupta, was accused of collaboration with Pakistan's Interior Services Intelligence.
In April, South Korean intelligence services detained two people saying there had sent to Pyongyang to assassinate a top-ranked renegade from North Korea. It was reported that they were members of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces of North Korea.
In February, the head of Ukraine's Security Service announced the disclosure of a "Russian spy group" acting on the territory of the country. Five members of the group were extradited and the alleged head of the group was taken into custody.
*2009
Ukrainian resident Ruslan Pilipenko was arrested in the capital of the Transdnestrian Republic, Tiraspol, for committing espionage at a Russian military object. Pilipenko, known as a Ukrainian Intelligence Service agent was engaged in spying since 2006. Russian security services seized a digital camera with electronic copies of secret and top secret documents from him. Pilipenko confessed and said he was ready to provide information on other intelligence agents involved in espionage in Russia.
In March, world news agencies reported that Romanian servicemen and a Bulgarian resident were arrested on espionage charges. The servicemen allegedly conveyed the Bulgarian secret information - maps and technical data. In turn, the Bulgarian conveyed the information to an officer from the Ukrainian embassy in Bucharest.
*2008
In December, former Pentagon officer Ben-Ami Kadish officially admitted spying for Israel during his time in service. The man worked at the Center for Weapons Development and conveyed secret information on the U.S. missile defense system. His espionage activity continued during 1980-1985.
On March 12, the Russian Federal Security Force arrested a TNK-BP senior employee and charged him of industrial espionage. Another two TNK-BP employees with Russian and U.S. citizenship were caught when attempting to receive classified information and trade secrets on the Russian gas and oil industry to get advantages over Russian companies.
In January, a spy scandal related with the leaking of information from the Japanese Office of Government was disclosed. An officer from Premier Yasuo Fukuda's office gave secret documents to a Russian diplomat.
* 2006
On February 15, Swedish police detained Russian scientist Andrei Zamyatin on espionage charges. After two months in pretrial facilities, the scientist was released and received $11,400 in compensation.
In January, the Russian Federal Security arrested four British agents working under cover in Moscow and seized a "spy rock" which they used to transmit information to the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.
* 2005
In October, Japan announced that a Toshiba subsidiary employee had passed secret documents on military electronic devices to a Russian Trade Mission officer.
