A senior Russian lawmaker disproved media allegations of Moscow spying on US citizens via the Glonass satellite navigation station.

Media claims of Russian surveillance of US citizens from Nicaragua with the use of the Glonass satellite navigation station is absurd, senior Russian lawmaker Vladimir Shamanov told Sputnik on Monday.

“All of this is absurd and fiction designed for an untrained layman,” Shamanov, chairman of Russia’s lower house of parliament defense committee, said.

Russia opened a new Glonass satellite navigation tracking station in Nicaragua last Thursday, with head of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos Igor Komarov on a visit to the Central American republic.

The Washington Post cited “current and former US officials” over the weekend suspecting that the station could have “dual use” capabilities, including for electronic espionage at the US.