U.S. soldier arrested for allegedly trying to share sensitive tank info with Russia
A 22-year-old U.S. soldier named Taylor Adam Lee has been arrested in Texas on charges of attempting to share classified information with Russia about vulnerabilities in the M1A2 Abrams tank, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
“According to the criminal complaint, the defendant sought to transmit sensitive national defense information to Russia regarding the operation of the M1A2 Abrams, our Nation’s main battle tank,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said.
Court documents allege that in June 2025, Lee — who held a high-level security clearance — shared data about the Abrams tank online and offered to assist Russia, reportedly saying he would “even volunteer to assist the Russian Federation” whenever he was there.
In July, Lee met with someone he believed to be a representative of the Russian government and handed over a memory card containing information about the tank. During the meeting, he also discussed the possibility of supplying an internal tank component. Later that month, he delivered the part to a warehouse in Texas and messaged his contact: “Mission accomplished.”
FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said the investigation revealed that Lee was trying to pass classified information to “someone he believed was a Russian intelligence officer” in exchange for Russian citizenship.
