US Army major and wife charged with conspiracy to help Russia

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US Army major and wife charged with conspiracy to help Russia

A former US Army major and his wife, a doctor at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and his wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, were charged with a federal indictment in federal court in Maryland on charges of conspiracy and the wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information about patients at the Army base.

Reuters couldn't determine who is representing them in the case.

The indictment alleges that the plot started after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

Prosecutors said the couple wanted to help the Russian government by providing them with data to help the Putin regime gain insight into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the US military and government. The indictment says that the two met with a Russian official who they believed was a Russian official, but in fact was actually an FBI undercover agent.

Gabrielian told the undercover agent at a hotel in Baltimore on Aug 17, that she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to give any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail.

She volunteered to bring her husband into the scheme, saying he had information about prior military training the United States provided to Ukraine.

Henry told the undercover agent he was committed to Russia and had even contemplated volunteering to join the Russian army at another meeting later that day.

The United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia, he allegedly told the agent.

The agent told the couple that they would help them understand what they were about to do when they read a book called Inside the Aquarium: The Making of a Top Soviet Spy.

The agent said it was the mentality of sacrificing everything and loyalty in you from day one. That's not something you walked away from. Henry had reservations about providing healthcare data, but his wife had no hesitations, and he said it would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA.

In a subsequent Aug 24 meeting, she told the undercover agent that her husband was a coward to be concerned about HIPAA, but she would see that they could give Russia access to medical records from Fort Bragg patients.

She had handed over information on current and former military officials and their spouses by the end of the month.