Lithuanian prosecutors said the Baltic state had arrested a member of the opposition conservatives this year on charges of spying for Russia.
The EU and NATO member state with a population of 2.8 million is one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters. It fears it could be next in Moscow's crosshairs if it wins its war against Kiev, AFP reports.
The suspect has dual Lithuanian and Russian citizenship. He was deported as a toddler with his parents to Russia in the 1940s during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.
"He has dual citizenship of Lithuania and Russia, and belongs to the... Union of Lithuanian Exiles and Political Prisoners," said Arturas Urbelis of the Prosecutor General's Office.
He said the man is suspected of gathering information for Russia's GRU intelligence agency on Lithuanian political parties and defense capabilities, as well as people deported to Russia during the Soviet occupation, since 2018.
"The information gathered was not classified, but it was significant and was in Russia's interest," Lithuanian intelligence deputy chief Remigijus Bridikis stated.
Urbelis indicated that the suspect and Russian intelligence agents used specialized radios to transmit information via encrypted radio waves.
Authorities declined to disclose his identity, but two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the suspect was 82-year-old Eduardas Manovas.
They say he returned to Lithuania in 1997, several years after it regained its independence, and lived in the northern city of Šiauliai.
The conservative chairman stated that they had asked officials to confirm that Manovas was the subject of a criminal investigation, in which case the party would expel him. | BGNES
