INTERNATIONAL DESK — UK police were questioning on Wednesday a senior American soldier assigned to Nato and suspected of spying for Russia, after his arrest amid a joint investigation with the US military and law enforcement. The espionage case, the latest involving suspected Kremlin agents in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, comes with tensions heightened between Moscow and various European capitals after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It also follows recent security scares at two British air force bases hosting the US military, which officials have accused Iran of being behind. Tehran has denied the allegations. UK Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) have said the 41-year-old American soldier was detained near Gloucester, southwest England, on suspicion of violating national security laws and taken to a London police station.
Later on Tuesday, a senior Nato military official confirmed the soldier was assigned to its Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), the alliance’s 20-nation, high-readiness force led by the British Army. Based at Imjin Barracks near Gloucester, it can deploy at short notice anywhere in Europe or globally under the direct operational command of Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Imjin is also just a few miles from the UK’s sensitive GCHQ intelligence, security and cyber agency headquarters.