Dozens of Russian diplomats in Northern Europe may be undercover spies—Ukrainska Pravda
Article by the Finnish news outlet Yle, as reported by European Pravda. The project also involved Norwegian NRK, Swedish SVT, and Danish DR news agencies in cooperation with the Dossier Centre (an organisation engaged in tracking the criminal activity of various people associated with the Kremlin – ed.) founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist.
The journalists identified several dozen people who were apparently employees of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) or Federal Security Service (FSB) but who worked undercover as diplomatic staff. Sources from the intelligence services said these people are usually assigned to secondary positions, while key people in diplomatic missions can rarely be undercover spies.
Yle has identified three of these Russians. Among them is Dmitriy Otorochkin, an alleged SVR officer who first worked at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, then was transferred to Copenhagen, from where he was eventually expelled in the spring of 2022. He had three pages on the VKontakte social network with different names and places of residence but with photos that made him easily identifiable.
Another one is 60-year-old Vladimir Komarov, who also worked at the embassy in Helsinki, and 37-year-old Dmitry Dvinyaninov, who were apparently GRU officers. They were expelled in the spring of 2022.
The Finnish Police estimate that up to a third of the Russian embassy's diplomats may be undercover spies. One of the officials, speaking anonymously, said that the Finnish services had intervened several times when such "diplomats" tried to establish contact with Russians in Finland for espionage purposes.
SVT journalists tracked down 21 alleged spies in Sweden, with at least thirteen of them continuing to work in Stockholm until at least April 2022.
The Norwegian broadcaster NRK notes that a total of 38 Russian intelligence agents linked to diplomatic missions in Northern Europe have been identified as part of the investigation.
Another one is located in strategically important Svalbard - Andrei Chemerilo, the Russian Consul General in Barentsburg, who is most likely connected to the GRU, Russian Defence Intelligence. The Dossier Centre came to this conclusion because Chemerilo had once lived at an address known to be a training centre for GRU officers. Chemerilo himself denies any links to the intelligence service.
They are Putin's eyes and ears in the Nordic countries - journalists revealed the names of dozens of Russian diplomats working for the intelligence service
A third of the staff of Russian embassies are actually on intelligence missions. According to Yle's MOT delivery, Supo has repeatedly interfered with their recruitment efforts.
By Jyri Hanninen, Mikko Pohja ,Noora Raitanen, YLE, April 26, 2023
Yle found out the identity of three Russian intelligence officers who previously worked in Finland.
The investigations carried out by Yle's MOT and Spotlight editors are part of a project by the Nordic broadcasting companies, in which the journalists have revealed the identity of dozens of Russian intelligence officers.
They officially belong to the staff of the embassy, but in reality they work under the authority of Russia's foreign intelligence service SVR, military intelligence GRU, or the Federal Security Service, or FSB. The Russian embassy in Helsinki did not comment on Yle's information in any way.
The Swedish public broadcasting company SVT found out the identity of 21 Russian intelligence officers. No fewer than thirteen of them have been employed by the Russian Embassy in Stockholm until at least April 2022.
Today, NRK reveals 38 Russian intelligence agents who are connected to embassies in the Nordics. But there is one more. He is Russia's man in Svalbard.
Behind some majestic, chalk-white mountains lies the Russian city on Norwegian soil.
In the middle of nowhere, a cloud of black smoke appears, and then you see it.
Putin's mining town of Barentsburg.
There has always been good neighborliness between the two cities on Svalbard.
But now big politics has gone from cold to icy cold.
A military hand in the north
Barentsburg and Svalbard are a strategically important place for Russia to protect the Northern Fleet, according to several Norwegian experts.
If a conflict arises in the north, Russia will be interested in ensuring that NATO forces are kept as far away as possible. By blocking off the sea areas around Svalbard, they can secure their strategic nuclear weapons.
But military activity is contrary to
The Svalbard Treaty
.It is a "peace agreement" that a number of countries have signed, which among other things is clear that the island is not to be used militarily and for war purposes.
NRK can now reveal that the Russian consul general in Barentsburg, Andrei Chemerilo, has a connection to the military intelligence service GRU.
Has military intelligence taken control of the Russian settlement on Svalbard?
The 48-year-old man comes from Blagoveshchensk, which lies on the border with China in the very eastern part of Russia. [continue reading]
