June 29, 2016
In the early
morning of June 6, a uniformed Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) guard stationed
outside the U.S.
Embassy in Moscow attacked and beat up a U.S. diplomat who was trying
to enter the compound, according to four U.S. officials who were briefed on the
incident.
This previously
unreported attack occurred just steps from the entrance to the U.S. Embassy
complex, which is located in the Presnensky District in Moscow’s city center.
After being tackled by the FSB guard, the diplomat suffered a broken shoulder,
among other injuries. He was eventually able to enter the embassy and was then
flown out of Russia to receive urgent medical attention, administration
officials confirmed to me. He remains outside of Russia.
The attack caused
a diplomatic episode behind the scenes that has not surfaced until now. The
State Department in Washington called in Russian Ambassador Sergey
I. Kislyak to complain about the incident, an administration
official said.
The motive for
the attack remains unclear. One U.S. official told me that the diplomat was
seeking refuge in the embassy complex to avoid being detained by the Russian
intelligence services. A different U.S. official told me the diplomat may have
been working as a spy in Russia under what’s known as “diplomatic cover,” which
means he was pretending to be a State Department employee.
Spokesmen for the
both the State Department and the CIA declined to comment on the incident or
whether or not the diplomat was in fact an undercover U.S. spy.
In 2013, Russian
intelligence services arrested U.S. diplomat Ryan C.
Fogle, whom they accused
of secretly working for the CIA. Fogle, who was
working as a third secretary in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in
Moscow, was arrested carrying various disguises and other tools of spycraft.
Russia accused him of trying to recruit Russian intelligence officers.
After
interrogating Fogle, the Russian government released him to U.S. officials, but
not before humiliating
him in the Russian media and chastising the U.S. government for
spying inside Russia. Fogle was forced to leave Russia.
If the U.S.
diplomat attacked on June 6 was not a spy, U.S. officials have no other
explanation for why the FSB guard was trying to stop him from entering the
embassy. FSB guards are stationed outside the U.S. Embassy regularly,
administration officials said.
Josh Rogin
