Espionage trial begins in Russia

The trial has begun near Moscow of a leading Russian nuclear arms expert who's been charged with spying.

Igor Sutyagin, who headed a think-tank on western military policy, was arrested more than a year ago and faces a possible twenty-year jail sentence if found guilty.

Mr Sutyagin is accused of amassing and passing on information about the construction of a new generation of Russian nuclear submarine.

The Russian counter-intelligence service, the FSB, is quoted as saying that they'd established that Mr Sutyagin had links with US and British intelligence. The closed trial, in the town of Kaluga, comes just three weeks after the American businessman Edmond Pope was convicted on espionage charges; he was later pardoned by President Putin.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service