Swedish nationality, self-employed with own company importing IT equipment, one adult son at Swedish University. At first glance, nothing seems unusual about the Russian couple who emigrated to Sweden in 1997. At least that’s how their neighbors reportedly describe it.
Earlier this month, however, the couple was arrested during a high-speed raid involving special forces and helicopters. The suspicion: espionage.
The couple are said to have spied against the US and Sweden for more than a decade, according to the “Guardians‘ now reported. The newspaper traces what the two are accused of.
The couple was reported for the first time in 2016. At that time it was about taxes that were apparently not paid. In addition, after the start of the war in Ukraine, they were “mentioned” by local media in connection with “Russian economic interests”.
Connections to Soviet diplomats
Crucially, however, the couple’s company was reportedly controlled by a company owned by a retired Soviet diplomat and suspected Russian military intelligence (GRU) colonel, who was once expelled from France for espionage.
Research by the investigative journalist group Bellingcat also revealed that the couple was registered as the owner of an apartment in Moscow.
The man is now said to be in custody while his alleged accomplice and wife has been released for the time being. He is accused of connections with the Russian intelligence services and “serious illegal intelligence activities”. More specifically, it should be about “technical procurement for the Russian military-industrial industry”.
It is unusual that the two are not classic agents who work undercover. Both would use their real names. The Swedish lecturer in intelligence analysis, Tony Ingesson, sees parallels in this with espionage during the Cold War: “The way is very similar to the approach of the Soviet Union and the GDR in the Cold War.”
Suspected cases of Russian espionage are piling up
They are not the first people to have been arrested on suspicion of espionage since the start of the war against Ukraine. An employee of the Federal Intelligence Service was arrested just last Wednesday. He is also accused of having transmitted information to a Russian intelligence service.
In Norway, the army was put on increased alert at the beginning of November. This is also related to many suspected cases of Russian espionage. Norwegian Colonel Arvid Halvorsen told the Tagesspiegel “The number of reconnaissance missions on land and at sea has increased significantly.”
A trial began in Sweden in December against two brothers who are said to have sold state secrets to Russia. They are accused of having sent a list of all agents of the Swedish Security and Counterintelligence Agency to Moscow. The Guardian quotes an intelligence expert as describing the case as the “worst we’ve ever had in Sweden”.
Ingesson told the Guardian that Russia appears to be in need of the information: “Russia desperately needs intelligence, both political and military – and since the invasion of Ukraine, it has become much more difficult to get it.”
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