Russia Arrests Man Accused of Spying for New Zealand

Russia said it has arrested a 55-year-old man in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk allegedly spying for New Zealand.

The man reportedly contacted New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) voluntarily, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

The FSB claimed that the man was instructed to “obtain information about Russia’s military and military-technical cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” according to Russian state media TASS on Monday, July 27.

The agency argued that the country is part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance that includes Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US.

In the arrest video shared by Russian outlet Kommersant, the suspect, in a white tracksuit, was seen strolling on the street holding a bottle of beer before being pressed to the ground by approaching law enforcement agents.

The video later cuts to searches at what’s supposedly the man’s apartment, showing the man’s tank model collection – including some with the Japanese flags – and bundles of cash in US dollars of unspecified value.

The FSB also accused the man of sending information to New Zealand via foreign email services and messaging apps.

In the video, a smartphone allegedly belonging to the man was shown displaying wallpapers of the British and American flags, but no screenshots of the alleged communications with the NZSIS were shown.

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The Moscow Times said it has reached out to New Zealand’s Embassy in Moscow for comments.

Khabarovsk is located around 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the Chinese border, around 645 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of the port city of Vladivostok, and around 8,370 kilometers (5,201 miles) east of Moscow.

While Russia has accused foreign nationals – mostly Americans – of spying in Russia, the incident marks the first time that Moscow has accused New Zealand, a small island nation with a population of around 5 million, of spying against the country.

Conversely, historical reports suggest that the Soviet Union had used the small island nation as a training ground for undercover agents, with the NZSIS releasing classified records of known Soviet agents operating in New Zealand in May 2025.

In 2018, in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack against a former Russian agent and his daughter, New Zealand had vowed to rid itself of Russian spies but said it could not identify any “undeclared intelligence officers.”