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, who is a retired Army lieutenant colonel assigned to the Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, was arrested on Saturday.

The 63-year-old has been charged in Nebraska with illegally disclosing national defence information and conspiring to do so.

Prosecutors say Slater attended briefings between February and April 2022 about Russia’s war with Ukraine.

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.

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According to an indictment, that alleged co-conspirator, who is not identified by prosecutors, repeatedly asked Slater for information and described him as “my secret informant love”.

Slater is due to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.

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