print versionFBI accused 11 people of illegal actions as another state agents (i.e. Russia), as well as committing money laundering. Anna Chapman, an entrepreneur from Moscow, who created "the very first vertical search engine for real estate" domdot.ru, was among the “spies”.
The arrested were not charged with espionage. According to court documents, investigation included the use of video surveillance, hidden microphones and secret searches, and even affected U.S. Secretary of the State administration. At the present time additional searches are to be made in different parts of the country.
Russian Foreign Ministry has already managed to respond to the fuss, surrounding the "Russian spies" arrest.
"From our point of view, such actions are baseless and have improper purposes” - is reported on Foreign Ministry's website. - "We do not understand the reasons that led the U.S. Department of Justice to make a public statement in the spirit of "Cold War espionage”. It’s worth mentioning, that this kind of thing occurred more than once in the past, when our relations were on the rise. In any case, the situation is to our deep regret, especially when the U.S. administration itself declared a “restart” in Russian-American relations".
Only a blind man could not see the fact that the spy scandal broke out immediately after the visit of President Dmitry Medvedev in the U.S. Some Russian experts have already expressed the view that the scandal struck on the agreements, reached during the visit by the presidents of both countries.
However, Webplanet.ru experts are confident that any spy scandal, inflated by opponents of rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, will be unable to shoot down Russian intention to establish a local Silicon Valley, where American companies are expected.
On the other hand, there will be problems with Anna Chapman’s plans to organize a Venture Fund in New York, which would invest American dollars into Russian start-ups and promote them to the international market. She, like dozens of other "spies", won’t be released soon, and she is unlikely to be able to continue her work in the U.S.
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