Officer Accused of Spying for Georgia

A senior Russian army officer has been arrested in the Stavropol region on suspicion of spying for Georgia, authorities said Wednesday.

Mikhail Khachidze, an ethnic Georgian, was recruited by Georgian intelligence late last year while he was stationed in a unit based on Georgian territory, according to a statement issued by the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Khachidze is accused of gathering secret information for Georgia about his fellow servicemen and the preparedness of Russian troops, the statement said.

The announcement came on the heels of Russia's bloody conflict with Georgia over the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia and a day after the FSB said Georgia was planning terrorist acts on Russian territory.

Khachidze is being investigated on charges of high treason, which is punishable by up to life in prison. His exact rank was not indicated in the statement, which identified him only as "a senior army officer." Video footage of his detention was shown repeatedly on national television Wednesday. Three men in police uniforms were shown struggling to hold the suspect face down on a sidewalk as cars passed by. The timer on the video read Aug. 13. News of Khachidze's arrest came a day after FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov told the National Anti-Terrorist Committee that Georgian intelligence was planning terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus.