MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's security officers have detained an official from the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on suspicion of spying for Lithuania, the Federal Security Service said Tuesday.
Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Khitryuk allegedly passed state military secrets to the Baltic country's security services, the FSB said.
"The suspect used his former colleagues and friends who serve in the Russian Army and security-related agencies" to obtain confidential information, the service said in a statement.
"Following orders from a Lithuanian intelligence officer, he [Khitryuk] offered them monetary rewards to supply him with copies of secret documents," the statement said.
The FSB said that during Khitryuk's arrest, officers seized computer storage devices with files containing top-secret information on the combat readiness of the Baltic Fleet and Russia's military contingent in Kaliningrad.
The service said it has gathered enough evidence to launch a criminal investigation.
Commenting on Khitryuk's arrest, the Federal Penitentiary Service said the suspect, born in 1967, has been working for the agency for three years.
"Khitryuk has been arrested on charges of espionage and state treason," the agency spokesman said, adding that the circumstances surrounding the case are still not clear.
The Embassy of Lithuania in Moscow refused to comment on the arrest. "We do not comment on such information," an embassy official said Tuesday.
But Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas later told a news conference that Lithuania does not conduct any espionage activities in Russia.
"Lithuania maintains a friendly attitude toward its neighbors -- we are not spying there," he said, referring to Khitryuk's arrest.
According to the premier, the arrested officer "worked in a storage facility" and apparently had Lithuanian citizenship, although he did not specify details.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitekunas, who was also present at the news conference, said the country will provide consulate assistance to the arrested Russian officer.
Diplomatic scandals between Moscow and Vilnius over alleged spying intensified after Lithuania's accession to NATO and the European Union in 2004.
In February 2004, Lithuania expelled three Russian diplomats for "illegal gathering of information on the impeachment of Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas."
Russia retaliated by expelling three Lithuanian diplomats, claiming their activities in Russia harmed the country's interests. In August 2004, Russia also pronounced Lithuania's military attache in Moscow a "persona non grata."
Earlier this month, Lithuania expelled a high-ranking Russian diplomat working in Vilnius on suspicion of spying and attempting to apply pressure on the country in relation to its support of Georgia, with which Russia is entangled in a heated diplomatic conflict.
