A US Air Force employee has been charged with transmitting classified information about Russia’s war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform.
David Franklin Slater, 63, a retired lieutenant colonel assigned to Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, was arrested Saturday.
The 63-year-old was charged in Nebraska with unlawfully disclosing national defense data and conspiring to do so.
Prosecutors say Slater attended briefings between February and April 2022 about the Russia-Ukraine war.
But despite having signed non-disclosure documents, he is alleged to have shared details about military targets and Russian capabilities on an online messaging platform with person who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine.
According to the indictment, this alleged accomplice, whom prosecutors do not know, asked Slater for information and described him as “my secret love informant. “
Slater is scheduled to appear in court for the first time on Tuesday.