(CNN) A former Army Green Beret has been charged with providing information about US national defenses to Russian agents, the Department of Justice announced on Friday. Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins was arrested for allegedly releasing details to Russian intelligence operatives about the chemical and Special Forces unit he was a part of before and while serving in the US Army. Prosecutors with the Eastern District of Virginia say Debbins met with Russian operatives on multiple occasions from 1996 to 2011 and was even assigned a code name, "Ikar Lesnikov," by Russian intel agents. Debbins is also accused of signing a statement allegedly affirming that he wanted to serve Russia. "Debbins allegedly fell very short of that and exploited his role in the military and his fellow service members to benefit one of our top adversaries for years."

Source: CNN August 22, 2020 00:00 UTC