Army Officer Accused of Trying to Spy for Russia Is Afghan War Veteran

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe officer, who served at a NATO base in Britain, is expected to be charged in the coming days, two officials said.An Army officer arrested on suspicion of trying to spy for Russia is said to be an Afghan war veteran who did human resources work.Credit...Nanna Heitmann for The New York TimesNov. 12, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ETA U.S. Army officer arrested in Britain on suspicion of trying to spy for Russia is a decorated veteran of the Afghanistan war who did human resources work for the service, according to two American officials familiar with the case.The suspect, Lt. Col. Brandon Tyner, 41, was arrested this week. British officials are expected to charge him on Sunday or Monday, and after that, the U.S. Army will seek to charge him under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and transfer him to the United States, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing inquiry.The authorities have not revealed exactly what actions prompted Colonel Tyner’s arrest. He was based at the headquarters of NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Gloucestershire, about 100 miles west of London. The base is NATO’s largest in Britain and hosts troops from 20 allied nations responsible for rapid response to crises.In a statement announcing the arrest, the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, said the case involved “allegations of espionage.” Though officials said in a statement that “the country to which the allegations relate is Russia,” it is unclear whether Colonel Tyner actually handed over sensitive information to Moscow.Cellphone numbers for Colonel Tyner and his wife were disconnected.The Kremlin has denied any involvement. “This arrest has nothing to do with us and we don’t know what it is connected to,” the Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said at a news conference on Wednesday.Colonel Tyner has been enlisted as a senior human resources officer in the Army since January 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan for a year starting in December 2013. He also served in Iraq in 2019 and 2020 and Qatar before that. He is the recipient of a Bronze Star Medal and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, among other awards.In Britain, counterterrorism police have investigated several high-profile terrorism cases related to the United States in the past months, including two cases of arrests near air bases in England where the American military operates.In September, five men were arrested and then later released on bail near R.A.F. Fairford in southern England. Two Latvian men were arrested in October on suspicion of a national security offense after breaching the perimeter of R.A.F. Molesworth, about 70 miles north of London, in Cambridgeshire, England.British police said the arrest of Colonel Tyner was not related to those cases.Michael Schwirtz is the global intelligence correspondent for The Times based in London.Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades. Contact him securely on Signal: @ericschmitt.36.Related ContentAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT