Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB, ex-KGB) identified the man as Ryan C Fogle -- third secretary of the political section of Washington's embassy in Moscow -- and said he had been handed back to the embassy after his detention.
The foreign ministry said it was summoning US ambassador Michael McFaul tomorrow for an explanation and slammed Washington for what it described as "provocative acts in the spirit of the Cold War".
Photographs published by state English language television RT showed a baseball-capped Fogle being pinned face down to the ground and having his hands put behind his back for the arrest.
He was then shown being questioned at the Federal Security Service while documents such as his passport and a stack of 500 euro notes along with some letters were displayed.
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The FSB footage also displayed supposed espionage equipment including two wigs as well as a compass and even a mundane atlas of Moscow as well as a somewhat old-fashioned mobile phone.
Russian state television shown footage provided by the FSB in which Fogle is seen sitting down in a checked shirt as a man -- presumably a Russian security officer -- tells the suspect about his alleged crime.
He is then accused of offering USD 100,000 for espionage to a security service employee who is involved in counterinsurgency work in the Russian North Caucasus.
"We did not believe this at first, because as you know the FSB has been actively helping the investigation of the Boston blasts," the officer says as Fogle and three men silently listen with arms crossed.
The last major spy row between the two former Cold War rivals involved the glamourous Anna Chapman and large group of Russian spies who were arrested on the US East Coast in June 2010.