Greek authorities have arrested a man in the strategic port city of Alexandroupolis on suspicion of photographing convoys carrying supplies to Russia, police said, according to AFP.

The suspect, a 59-year-old Greek citizen of Georgian origin, was arrested in the northeastern city on Tuesday (29 April) and appeared before an investigating magistrate on Friday (2 May), according to police and media reports.

The man "admitted to photographing and filming military equipment while acting on behalf of another person, to whom he sent the recordings via an encrypted application," police said in a statement released on Tuesday.

A police source said this week that the man, who identified himself as a painter, had been focusing his attention on military convoys bound for Ukraine, according to records seized from his mobile phone.

The source added that the suspect, who served in the Russian army in his youth, had apparently been recruited by Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, through an intermediary.

Greek media reported that the intermediary was a Georgian with links to organized crime living in Lithuania.

Despite its historical ties with Russia, Greece has supported Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion.

The Greek port of Alexandroupolis is a key hub for the US military, which uses it to transport supplies to Europe under a mutual defense pact. |BGNES