Journalists from Nordic public broadcasters expose Russian diplomats who may be involved in espionage activities

Journalists from public broadcasters in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have exposed several dozen Russian diplomats who may be involved in espionage.

This was reported by the Norwegian NRK and Finnish Yle.

In particular, the Norwegian NRK found that Russian Consul General in Barentsburg Andrei Chemerilo has ties to the military intelligence of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

He lives at the address where the MID training center is located. Although Chemerilo himself denies this information.

In total, Norwegian journalists identified 38 Russian intelligence agents who were associated with Russian diplomatic missions in Northern Europe.

In Sweden, journalists have tracked down 21 alleged spies in Sweden and that at least 13 of them continued to work in the country until April last year.

And the Finnish Yle writes, citing the security police, that a third of the diplomats at the Russian embassy are actually members of the secret services. 

They have identified three Russians who may be involved in espionage. Among them is the alleged accomplice of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Dmitry Otorochkin, who first worked at the embassy in Helsinki and then in Copenhagen, from where he was expelled in 2022.

Otorochkin had three accounts on the social network Vkontakte. They had different names and places of residence, but the photos showed that the pages belonged to him.

Other alleged MID employees include Vladimir Komarov and Dvinianikov, who were expelled in the spring of 2022. Komarov also worked at the Embassy in Helsinki.

Earlier, public broadcasters in these countries found that Russia was preparing sabotage of infrastructure in the North Sea in the event of a conflict with the West.