Russia Sending Spies Disguised As ‘Students’ To Slovenia En Masse

WSJ has revealed the details.

The Slovenian authorities suspect that Russia is sending spies to their country. We are talking about a mass influx of adult “students”. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to The Wall Street Journal.

It is noted that the unusual influx of students from Russia to Slovenian universities began two years ago and coincided with the mass expulsion of diplomatic employees from Europe who were suspected of espionage.

Therefore, the Slovenian authorities believe that after this step, Russia was faced with the impossibility of using the previous channels for sending spies to Europe. At the same time, the Kremlin decided to compensate for the lack of its spies in Slovenia by sending “students” to the country, many of whom are 40-50 years old.

In March, the Slovenian government decided to deport at least eight students from Russia from the country, and the reason for this was the spread of pro-Russian propaganda.

Slovenian law enforcement officers were able to detain agents

The publication indicates that at the end of 2022, officers of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Artem and Anna Dultsev were detained in the city of Ljubljana, who, according to the legend, introduced themselves as citizens of Argentina.

The journalists clarified that the married couple legalized themselves in the country long before the Russian invasion, but the Slovenian special services began to expose them during the war in Ukraine.

What are they facing

In 2022, the couple also began to spy on the activities of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, so they decided to detain them.

The Dultsev family faces up to eight years in prison, and they have already spent 18 months in prison. At the same time, the WSJ indicates that Russian agents may be exchanged, this issue was of concern to former Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.

Russia has stepped up espionage activities against Western countries

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, a number of Western countries have faced espionage activities from the Russian Federation. This has particularly affected those countries that provide assistance to Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently announced that the Alliance members intend to take tougher measures against Russian spies.