U.S. Servicemember Leaked Military Tech Vulnerabilities to Russia

A U.S. Army servicemember allegedly gathered classified materials and stole equipment from military vehicles in an effort to obtain Russian citizenship.

According to details released by the U.S. Department of Justice, 22-year-old Taylor Adam Lee, stationed at Fort Bliss, was identified by Army counterintelligence and the FBI for attempting to transmit national defense information and technical data to Russian intelligence services.

“The FBI’s investigation revealed Taylor Lee allegedly attempted to provide classified military information on U.S. tank vulnerabilities to a person he believed to be a Russian intelligence officer in exchange for Russian citizenship,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division.

In June 2025, Lee allegedly transmitted export-controlled technical information on the M1A2 Abrams Tank online and offered assistance to the Russian Federation, stating, “the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses,” and added, “At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way.”

In July, at an in-person meeting between Lee and who he believed to be a representative of the Russian government, Lee allegedly passed an SD card to the individual. Lee proceeded to provide a detailed overview of the documents and information contained on the SD card, including documents and information on the M1A2 Abrams, another armored fighting vehicle used by the U.S. military, and combat operations.

Several of these documents contained controlled technical data that Lee did not have the permission to provide. Other documents on the SD card were marked as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and featured banner warnings and dissemination controls. Throughout the meeting, Lee stated that the information on the SD card was sensitive and likely classified.

During and after the July meeting, Lee discussed obtaining and providing to the Russian government a specific piece of hardware inside the M1A2 Abrams tank. On July 31, 2025, Lee delivered what appeared to be the hardware to a storage unit in El Paso, Texas. After doing so, Lee sent a message to the individual he believed to be a representative of the Russian government stating, “Mission accomplished.”

In April of this year, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst was convicted in the United States for selling classified information and confidential documents, including materials related to the war in Ukraine.

It was noted that Korbein Schultz had been sentenced to seven years in prison “for conspiring to collect and transmit information about the national defense of the United States to an individual he believed to be connected to the Chinese government.”

Among them were a US Army document analyzing lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine war, some technical instructions, as well as data on American military satellites and missile defense systems.

For this activity, the sergeant and intelligence analyst received $42,000. In August 2024, Schultz pleaded guilty to the charges that had been brought against him earlier.