Russian spies active in Europe, including Greece

With the war in Ukraine raging, European authorities have been uncovering the parallel lives and fake identities of Russian spies across the continent, including Sweden, Poland, Austria and Greece.

Last Thursday, the Greek Intelligence Service (EYP) announced the clandestine activities of Russian Irena S., who had been living in Greece since at least 2018 under the fake name Maria Tsalla. She was based in the Athens district of Pangrati and ran a knitwear shop on Arrianou Street, but left for Russia in January.

“The countdown toward her exposure started after the detection of a third country attempt to gain access to personal data of deceased Greek citizens, an internationally known and established practice that the intelligence services of a specific foreign country use for the creation of a special category of spies,” EYP said on Thursday.