Russia has arrested the Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg. Increased tensions

Tensions are rising between Russia and Ukraine. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation announced that it had arrested Ukrainian diplomat Alexander Sosonyuk on Friday, April 16, on charges that it had tried to obtain classified information from a database of the country’s main security agency, Mediafax reports, citing AP.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Saturday, April 17, that Alexander Sosonyuk, ukraine’s consul in St Petersburg, had been taken into custody a day earlier.

According to international media, citing Reuters, Sosonyuk was caught “in flagrante” during a meeting with a Russian citizen in which he received “classified information from the databases of law enforcement agencies and the FSB.”

“This activity is incompatible with the status of diplomatic employee and hostile to the Russian Federation. The foreign diplomat will be treated in accordance with international law,” the FSB said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said Sosonyuk was detained for several hours, but has now returned to the consulate in St. Petersburg.

The Ukrainian diplomat’s arrest is coming amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Since mid-March, Ukraine and Western governments have warned that Russia is massing troops in Crimea and the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow’s intentions are still unclear, but have raised suspicions of a re-ignition of the conflict in Donbas or even a direct entry into the war by Russia, the BBC reports.