A former Green Beret man was arrested on Friday and charged with plotting to assassinate Russian intelligence chief in connection with a crackdown on Russian national security forces.
Peter Rafael Dzibinksi Debbins, a 45-year-old ex-Green Beret from northern Virginia, suspected a collusion with Russian operatives and provided them with sensitive information from December 1996 to January 2011, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
“The facts charged in this case are a shocking betrayal by a former Army officer of his fellow soldiers and his country,” said Alan E. Kohler, Jr., FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division.
The Department of Justice claims that Debbins ended up in January 2011 over a period of 15 years periodically visited Russia and met with Russian intelligence agents. Justice says Russian agents gave Debbins a code name in 1997 and signed a statement stating that he wanted to serve Russia.
“Debbins took his oath as a U.S. Army officer, betrayed the Special Forces and threatened the national security of our country by disclosing classified information to Russian intelligence officers,” said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
Demers added that Debbins helped Russia by “providing details of his unit, and identifying Special Forces team members for Russian intelligence to try to recruit as a spy.”
Following the termination of his military service in 2008, Debbins disclosed information about his previous activities to Russian intelligence agents, while deploying special units.
He is accused of conspiracy to provide information on U.S. national defense to agents of a foreign government, according to Debbins’ accusation.
Debbins’ mother was born in the Soviet Union, and he met his partner in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, where they were married in 1997, prosecutors say.
If convicted, he could receive a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“Debbins thought the United States was too dominant in the world and should be cut to size,” prosecutors claimed.
It was not immediately clear if Debbins had sought legal counsel for the allegations.
A local CBS affiliate for WUSA9 tweeted Friday afternoon the DOJ has released a mugshot of Debbins from the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office.
LATEST >> Feds release mugshot, Russian spy from Northern Virginia:
According to court documents, from December 1996 to January 2011, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, a former member of the US Army, had allegedly conspired with Russian intelligence https: //t.co/UzpMW22hYb pic.twitter.com/Qv3AYvtEld
– Mike Valerio (@MikevWUSA) 21 August 2020
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