The police was hunting on Thursday for a key suspect in the Russia-US spy scandal who vanished in Cyprus, as 10 other alleged Kremlin spies were due to appear before US courts to request bail.
In a stunning twist to a Cold War-style espionage saga that has threatened to upset efforts to reset US-Russia ties, Christopher Metsos, in his mid-50s, was arrested but then disappeared after a Cypriot court released him on bail.
The alleged spy ring was cracked earlier this week as FBI agents finally pounced on 10 alleged Russian agents in Boston, New York and the Washington area after more than a decade of surveillance operations. After initially reacting with fury, Russia has since been at pains to prevent the scandal spiralling into a major diplomatic crisis and said it does not expect the incident to harm relations.
But the Russian press has been highly sceptical, questioning if the suspects were really spies and blaming the scandal on elements in the United States opposed to President Barack Obama’s policy of reconciliation with Russia.
“It’s as if James Bond finally opens his super briefcase — and all you find inside are some socks and some chicken wrapped in foil,” wrote the pro-Kremlin mass circulation daily Moskovsky Komsomolets.
Metsos is accused of being the paymaster for a “deep cover” cell of spies in the United States.
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Moscow will provide aid to ‘spies’ held by FBI
Moscow, July 1: Russia on Thursday vowed to provide all necessary assistance to its nationals arrested by the FBI on charges of espionage and would seek full information on the “spy scandal”.
“If there be need for assistance, we, of course, will provide it to full extent. We will also seek full information about what actually happened,” Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko on Thursday said. Ten people were arre-sted FBI on Sunday. —PTI