NIZHNY NOVGOROD. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The information about students of an institute of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)'s Border Service received by U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage, was fake, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told journalists.
"It [the flash drive received by Whelan] contained the names of non-existent students. It was fake information provided in a sting operation. So, objectively, he did no damage to Russia," Zherebenkov said on Monday after a court hearing in Nizhny Novgorod.
Zherebenkov noted that the Russian security services had been watching his client "for several years."