published22. August 2022, 12:48
NATO weapons Russian spies were traveling in Albania as tourists in the “Chevrolet”.
Albania has arrested three suspected spies. A Russian, a Russian and a Ukrainian are said to have spied on a weapons factory. Weapons production in NATO countries has long been in Moscow’s sights.
The portal “Top Channel» shows a photo of the suspected Russian spy.
Screenshot Top Channel
In Albania, military police, secret services and anti-terrorist experts are currently investigating a case of alleged espionage that ended with two injured Albanian guards.
In Gramsh, a good 80 kilometers south of the capital Tirana, they wanted to check a 24-year-old man because he was strolling around an arms factory and taking photos. Disused weapons are dismantled in the factory. The suspect then sprayed the guards with a “chemical spray” in their eyes. Nevertheless, he was arrested.
On the road in a Chevrolet
It turned out that he was a Russian national staying in Albania on a tourist visa. A little later, the police arrested a 33-year-old Russian woman in addition to a 25-year-old Ukrainian.
She too had entered the country as a tourist with a Schengen visa – which is not unusual for Russian spies, as Russia expert Sergei Sumlenny told the German «Bild»-Newspaper says. So it’s quite possible that the incident will further fuel the current discussion about a visa ban against Russia’s population (more about it here).
The three had been in Gramsh in a Chevrolet, which has now been impounded. Laptops, drones and storage media with images of the military facility were found in the vehicle. Everything was forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Judicial District of Elbasan, according to the Albanian portal «Top Channel»which also shows a photo of the suspected Russian spy.
Targeting weapons from NATO countries
The case appears explosive, especially since Moscow “threatened several times to attack the NATO countries, especially as far as weapons production is concerned,” says Russia expert Sumlenny. So one could definitely see Moscow as the client.
Albanian Defense Minister Niko Peleshi said the incident “must be dealt with in a broader regional and political context”. However, he warned against drawing “hasty conclusions”. Albania has been a NATO member since 2009.
As the Albanian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, the two Albanian soldiers were taken to a hospital in Tirana with eye injuries.
According to Defense Minister Peleshi, they should soon be discharged from the hospital. Albanian media showed a Photo of the two lying blindfolded in hospital beds.
(gux)